Immigrant investment company Interbank is under investigation by the Federal government and its offices in Herndon, Virginia were recently raided by Federal agents. The company specializes in placing investments to enable people to qualify in the EB-5 immigrant visa category. The EB-5 category is available to people who invest $500,000+ and create jobs for 10 people. The investigation is centered on the question of whether the program has been misused to bilk immigrants seeking green cards. Specific allegations have not been released. A spokesman for Interbank told a DC-area television station that the firm has, in fact, made investments with the money collected including the purchase of a home construction company in California and it has launched a series of telemarketing companies in some of the poorest counties in West Virginia.

The firm's offices were raided on August 28th and truckloads of documents were hauled away. The raiding agents represented the INS, FBI, IRS and the State Department. The search and seizure was authorized by grand jury subpoenas stemming from the investigation mentioned above. Interbank called the raid a "hostile attack on the foreign investor program" and said it is seeking to file suit against the INS to force it to approve 700 pending applications for EB-5 visas. The company argues that the INS is effectively blocking jobs for 7,000 Americans.