A South Windsor man received an 18-month federal prison sentence for operating defrauding individuals seeking help with immigration services.
Babar Khan, 46, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to 18 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release after previously pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and one count of making and subscribing a false tax return on Feb. 28, 2022, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Khan and his wife, Khatija Khan, operated JLLAS CORP. and EIMAAN LLC, which were reportedly created to provide services to individuals involved in proceedings with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
From 2015 to 2020, the Khans reportedly recruited clients who sought “some form” of immigration status, relief or benefit. “Many of these clients were aliens residing in the U.S. without legal status and had limited education, a limited ability to understand English, and little to no knowledge of the documents that the Khans were filing with USCIS on their behalf,” court records show.
According to court records, Khatija Khan falsely represented herself as an attorney with a background in immigration matters. Investigators alleged that the Khans prepared petitions and applications for clients that contained information that they reportedly knew to be false. Court records show that they also reportedly fabricated false documents to support their clients’ applications with USCIS without their knowledge then mailed the fraudulent documents to USCIS, where they were made part of the official file of each client.
Many of the Khans’ clients reportedly received no relief from USCIS despite paying the couple “significant” amounts of money, according to court records. “To generate fees from clients, Khatija Khan filed applications with USCIS even when the submissions lacked merit or a legitimate basis. Victims lost more than $300,000 as a result of this scheme,” investigators said.
In addition, Babar Khan reportedly failed to report $27,901 to the IRS in additional taxable income for the 2016 tax year and failed to pay an additional $7,942 in federal taxes that were owed, according to court records.
Babar Khan and Khatija Khan were arrested on Dec. 19, 2019. According to federal officials, Khatija Khan reportedly continued to defraud clients after her arrest.
Khatija Khan pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and one count of mail fraud and was sentenced to 60 months in prison on Sept.1, 2022.
Babar Khan was also ordered to pay $371,743 in restitution, $367,743.75 to be paid jointly and severally with Khatija Khan.
Babar Khan, who is currently released on a $50,000 bond, is required to report to prison on March 18, 2026.
