Jury Convicts Albany County Sisters of Conspiracy to Commit Visa Fraud

ALBANY, NEW YORK – A jury voted today to convict Dalia Lita, age 55, of Latham, New York; Elina Rahman, age 45 of Watervliet, New York; and Lubna Rahman age 45, of Watervliet, of conspiracy to commit visa fraud by submitting false information to the United States government in order to obtain immigrant visas.

The announcement was made by the United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Kevin M. Kelly, Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Evidence presented during the 3-day trial established that in 2001, Lita filed, with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, petitions for her sisters Elina and Lubna, knowing that those petitions contained false statements meant to conceal their true identities and prior, illegal residence in the United States.  In addition, as part of the criminal conspiracy, Elina and Lubna Rahman filed applications for family-based immigrant visas in 2012, knowing that the applications also contained the same false statements.  Based on the false information the sisters provided, Elina Rahman and Lubna Rahman were issued immigrant visas when they were otherwise ineligible to enter the United States.

Each of the sisters faces up to 5 years in prison, a maximum $250,000 fine, and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of up to 3 years when they are sentenced on January 14, 2019 by Senior United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy.  A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant was charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors.

This case was investigated by HSI and prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason W. White.