FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
AUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC or
MARCIA MURPHY at 410-209-4885
AUGUST 22, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BALTIMORE MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO ASSISTING IMMIGRANTS TO FRAUDULENTLY OBTAIN SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS
Baltimore, Maryland - Adel Abassi, age 39, of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to defraud the Social Security Administration (SSA), announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.
According to the plea agreement, from March 2001 through July 2002 Abassi conspired with An Shik Khim and In Sik Mun to defraud SSA by assisting foreign nationals in obtaining social security cards to which they were not entitled. Abassi obtained fraudulent immigration documents from Khim and Mun and then assisted foreign nationals in completing applications for social security cards, using the fraudulent immigration documents. He frequently accompanied the foreign nationals to an SSA office in Maryland where they submitted the fraudulent applications.
Abassi also provided Khim with addresses in Maryland to use on the foreign nationals’ applications for social security cards to avoid using their actual addresses, and to give the appearance that they resided in Maryland, when in fact they did not. Abassi would pick up the cards that SSA mailed to the Maryland addresses he provided and deliver the cards to Khim, who provided them to the foreign nationals. Abassi received several hundred dollars for each address provided to Khim, and received money from some of the foreign nationals for his assistance. As a result of this scheme, SSA issued more than 25 social security cards to foreign nationals who were otherwise ineligible to receive the cards.
Abassi faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison followed by three years of supervised release. U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett has scheduled sentencing November 9, 2007.
An Shik Khim, age 52, of Flushing, New York, and In Sik Mun, age 60, of Cliffside Park, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty to charges relating to the same scheme, and are scheduled to be sentenced on September 28, 2007 at 10:00 a.m. and October 5, 2007, at 2:00 p.m., respectively.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General and Immigration and Customs Enforcement for their investigative work. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan Biran and Stephanie Gallagher, who are prosecuting the case.