SEC Freezes Assets of Two Individuals Accused of Defrauding Chinese Investors

The Securities and Exchange Commission obtained an asset freeze against two people in San Bernardino, California accused of defrauding Chinese investors. The investments were made under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program which "provides a method to obtain visas by investing $1 million, or at least $500,000 in an area designated as rural or high unemployment, and which creates or preserves at least ten jobs for U.S. workers." The SEC accuses the individuals of diverting a portion of the investments for personal and other uses thereby jeopardizing investors' prospects for U.S. residency under the terms of the EB-5 program.