The Department of Justice has announced that a Department of Agriculture employee has been sentenced to 21 months imprisonment for his role in a visa fraud scheme.  Hsin Hui Hsu, who obtained 99 visas for Chinese nationals and collected $77,400 in payments over a three year period, was convicted of visa fraud by U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.

Hsu worked as an agriculture economist in the Department of Agriculture.  Hsu’s position gave him the authority to invite Chinese nationals with expertise in agricultural science to the U.S. to participate in educational meetings with U.S. agricultural scientists.  Beginning in the late 1990’s, Hsu partook in a conspiracy that located Chinese nationals who sought to obtain U.S. visas.  He wrote letters to U.S. consulates in China, providing false biographical information and requesting visas so that the applicants could enter the U.S. to attend the education conferences.  Hsu wrote the letters knowing that the applicants were not agricultural specialists and that they would not attend any such education conferences.

Hsu’s sentence has been significantly lessened due to his cooperation with investigative authorities.  His wife, Jing Ling Wu Hsu, received a probationary sentence for aiding and abetting.