CHICAGO – A Chicago man was sentenced to prison for running a scheme that provided false employment verifications to hundreds of foreign nationals seeking to stay in the United States on visas, prosecutors said.

What we know:

Zhao Tai Cui, 60, pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiracy to commit visa fraud. On Friday, he was sentenced to two years in federal prison.

Federal prosecutors said Cui charged F-1 visa holders a fee to falsely represent that they were employed by his sham company, which he incorporated in Illinois solely for the scheme.

From 2013 to 2019, Cui claimed at least 250 visa holders worked for his company, advertising the fraudulent service online. U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman also ordered him to pay a personal money judgment of $652,963.

What they’re saying:

“Cui’s scheme was expansive and involved multiple levels of deception,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Caitlin Walgamuth argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.  “This type of crime erodes the public’s faith in the immigration system.”