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BOSTON, July 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A Sharon man was charged today in federal court with fraud and misuse of documents required by the immigration laws, and with making false statements.
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United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan, Bruce Foucart, Special Agent in Charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) -- New England Field Office and Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) -- New England Field Division announced today that MUHAMMAD MASOOD, age 49, of 74 Chase Drive, Sharon, MA, was charged in a Criminal Complaint with fraud and misuse of documents required by the immigration laws and with making false statements to Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Muhammed Masood first came to the U.S. in 1987, via a J-1 Visitor Exchange Visa. That visa allows foreign nationals to visit the U.S. temporarily. Participants are expected to return to their home countries after their temporary stay. In fact, participants must return to their countries for at least two years prior to re-entering the U.S.
Masood attended Vanderbilt University in 1987, attending for the fall semester. He then transferred to Boston University to study economics in 1988. Masood was sponsored for a J-1 visa by the U.S. Agency for International Development (US AID), a federal government agency that paid for Masood's expenses through the program. According to the Academy of Educational Development, which administered the grant that sponsored Masood, the total amount of taxpayer funds provided for Masood's program was some $85,800 . According to AED, Masood did not complete his MA degree at BU, he did not return to Pakistan, and he was reported as a "non-returnee."
Masood claimed in repeated, sworn testimony that he returned to Pakistan from 1991 to 1993, as required by the J-1 visa. He claimed that he worked in a mosque in Faisalabad. He claimed that he was a professor of Islamic Economics at the University of Agriculture in Pakistan between 1991-1993. He said that he lived in a small apartment, that it was very hard for him to be away from his family. He said that he missed the birth of his son in March 1992. But according to evidence uncovered by federal agents, none of this is true. The affidavit presents page after page after page of falsehoods. What sort of religious leader conduct himself this way?
Footnote: Michael Graham interviewed Miss Kelly this morning on his radio talk show. The DOJ statement is linked off of her website at Miss Kelly, where there more information about this case and Mahmood. Her surprise; or lack of, is how little of this case is being picked up by the local and regional papers including the two big ones in Boston. |
