12.13.02 | By GARY HARMON

Posted on Saturday, December 14, 2002 4:05:56 PM by Libertarianize the GOP

12.13.02 Clifton couple indicted in immigration scheme involving nine Chinese

By GARY HARMON The Daily Sentinel James Strothman and his wife hoodwinked U.S. officials into allowing nine Chinese nationals to enter the United States illegally, a federal indictment charges.

James and Sharon Strothman were among four people, including one other person from Colorado, who were indicted in the alleged scheme in federal court in Denver.

The complaint filed by the U.S. Justice Department alleges that the Strothmans, Gaylon Dahn, vice president of the Denver campus of National American University from 1995 to 1998, and Scott Huger of Texas, an admissions representative for the university, conspired to offer phony scholarships to the Chinese nationals.

The offers of so-called "presidential scholarships" were used to wrangle student visas out of federal officials, according to the indictment.

James Strothman answered a telephone call but hung up when a reporter identified himself.

Strothman and his wife, who was born Jun Chan in China, allegedly conspired with the other defendants "to defraud the United States by impairing, obstructing and defeating the lawful functions" of the State Department and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

The defendants conspired, according to the indictment, "to enrich themselves by assisting Chinese nationals in obtaining false and fraudulent immigration documents and encouraging and inducing the Chinese nationals to illegally come to, enter and reside in the United States."

The Strothmans, according to the indictment, would travel to China to identify Chinese nationals as potential students, then forward their names to the university officials. Offers of scholarships were then used to show immigration officials that the students could support themselves. The scholarships were purportedly worth $16,000 to $19,000, according to the indictment.

In truth, though, the students and their families actually were to pay the full cost of tuition, fees, books and living expenses, the indictment said.

James and Sharon Strothman also accompanied the students to a U.S. consulate in China and coached them "to give false answers to questions" posed by consular officials.