US Arrests Chinese Businessman Accused of Visa Fraud

The seal of the United States Department of Justice is seen on the building exterior of the United States Attorney's Office of the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, N.Y., on Aug. 17, 2020. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

A fugitive Chinese entrepreneur was arrested in Las Vegas last week for allegedly having used fraudulently obtained visas to enter the United States.

Prosecutors accused 57-year-old Shi Jianxiang of lying about his names to obtain two non-immigrant visas, which he used to enter the United States in 2016. A federal magistrate on Friday denied him bail upon finding that Shi presents a flight risk, an Oct. 29 Justice Department statement said.

Shi was arrested at a convention in Las Vegas while promoting a cryptocurrency venture. He faces two counts of fraud and misuse of U.S. non-immigrant visas that could result in a maximum of 10 years of federal imprisonment, and a fine of up to $250,000.

The businessman has been living at large in the United States since fleeing China in 2016, Chinese authorities said. He was one of 50 Chinese fugitives wanted by China’s Central Anti-Corruption Coordination Group for alleged illicit gains, a 2018 post from the anti-graft body shows. A current red notice from Interpol, the global policing agency, said Beijing is going after Shi over “illegal fundraising by fraudulent means.”

A current Interpol red notice for Chinese businessman Shi Jianxiang. (Screenshot)

Shi has lived in California and Nevada under the name of “Morgan Shi.” In the two applications for non-immigrant visas he used to enter the United States at Miami International Airport in 2016, Shi had claimed he had never used another name even though he had alternate travel documents under the name Long Niu, which he used to enter the United States the following February, the Justice Department said.

In 2019, a Shanghai court, in a case against other defendants, found that Shi was a major culprit behind an illicit fundraising scheme that brought billions of losses for some 40,000 Chinese investors. Over a dozen defendants associated with Shi received sentences ranging from nine years to life imprisonment.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in September revoked registration of securities from Moregain Pictures Inc., a film production investment company controlled by Shi, citing its failure to file financial reports since March 2019.