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Chicago Man Sentenced to Two Years in Federal Prison for Immigration Fraud

A Chicago man has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for knowingly providing false verifications of employment for foreign nationals seeking to stay in the United States on an immigration visa, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025.

Zhao Tai Cui charged F-1 visa holders a fee to falsely represent that they were employed by Cui’s company so they could improperly extend their stay in the United States.

Cui advertised his fraudulent visa-related employment services on various websites and incorporated a company in Illinois with the sole purpose of serving as a sham employer.

During the scheme, which began in 2013 and continued until 2019, Cui falsely claimed that at least 250 F-1 visa holders worked for his sham company.

Kluczynski Federal Building, Chicago. Courtesy of WIkipedia

Cui, 60, of Chicago, pleaded guilty earlier this year to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit visa fraud. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman sentenced Cui to two years in prison and ordered him to pay a personal money judgment of $652,963.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.

“Cui’s scheme was expansive and involved multiple levels of deception,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Caitlin Walgamuth argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “This type of crime erodes the public’s faith in the immigration system.”