MONTGOMERY TWP, NJ – Two Montgomery Township attorneys have been indicted by the federal government for allegedly committing visa fraud, according to U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
Steven G. Thomas, 52, and Maria Thomas, 81, both of Montgomery Township, New Jersey, were indicted for conspiring to prepare and file false visa applications on behalf of clients.
Steven Thomas was also charged with one count of filing a false visa application.
According to court documents, from 2015 to 2021, the defendants encouraged their clients to apply for asylum under fraudulent pretenses.
“They advised their clients regarding the manner in which they were most likely to obtain asylum, knowing that these clients did not legitimately qualify for asylum,” Sellinger said in a statement today. “The defendants then prepared, or caused to be prepared, fraudulent applications and affidavits on behalf of those clients, which were submitted to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.”
Feder prosecutors said a confidential source also met with Steven Thomas in January of 2020where he iled a visa application containing numerous false statements in April 2020.