Former Moroccan Diplomat Accused of Visa Fraud

https://www.voanews.com/usa/former-moroccan-diplomat-accused-visa-fraud

By Reuters

December 13, 2019 06:49 PM

FILE - People enter U.S. District Court in White Plains, N.Y., Sept. 17, 2019.

NEW YORK - Prosecutors in New York have charged a former Moroccan ambassador to the United Nations and others with visa fraud, accusing them of bringing workers to the United States using fake employment contracts and then exploiting them. Abdeslam Jaidi, his ex-wife Maria Luisa Estrella and her brother Ramon Singson brought in more than 10 workers from the Philippines and Morocco since about 2006, according to the indictment filed in federal court in New York.

The visa applications said the workers would be employed as administrative or technical staff at the consulate or Moroccan U.N. mission, and some included fake employment contracts, it said. Instead, the workers were used as personal drivers, domestic helpers and farmhands, the indictment said.

They were paid low wages — sometimes less than $500 a month — and worked long hours without time off. Some had to hand over their passports, it also said.

"This case sends a strong message that diplomatic immunity does not equal impunity," said Martina Vandenberg, head of the Washington-based Human Trafficking Legal Center. "Even high-ranking diplomats can be called to account if there are allegations of visa fraud and exploitation….