Visa Fraud: NJ Lawyer Busted By Feds In Undercover Sting

A New Jersey attorney who lives in Pennsylvania was arrested by federal agents after he submitted a false visa application for a client who turned out to be a government informant, authorities said.

Federal agents staged a sting operation in which Thomas filed a visa application that included "numerous false statements" on behalf of a confidential informant, the U.S. attorney said.
Photo Credit: *ivisa.com*

Jerry DeMarco

02/23/2022 7:44 p.m.

Steven G. Thomas, 52, of New Hope, PA had been encouraging clients to apply for asylum under false pretenses, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said on Wednesday, Feb. 23.

Thomas, who operates a law firm in Montgomery Township, told them how they'd mostly succeed in their applications even though he knew full well that they didn't qualify, Sellinger said.

Then he "prepared or caused to be prepared" fraudulent applications and affidavits submitted to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on their behalf, he said.

Federal agents staged a sting operation that led to Thomas filing a visa application that included "numerous false statements" on behalf of a confidential informant, the U.S. attorney said.

They charged him with preparing and filing false visa applications.

Sellinger credited special agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations' Newark Field Office and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service Fraud Detection and National Security Unit in the Newark Asylum office with the investigation leading to the arrest.

Senior Civil Rights Counsel Joseph Gribko of Sellinger's Criminal Division in Newark is handling the case.

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