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Update on Kooritzky-Bogardus Affair - Class Action Certifiedby Paul S. AllenMost Immigration Daily readers will recall that Mr. Kooritzky and Bogardus were indicted four months ago for immigration fraud. The government has alleged and Bogardus has admitted participation in a scheme by which employers' signatures were forged on labor certification applications so that Kooritzky and Bogardus' clients could get greencards. Bogardus even hired employees of the U.S. Department of State to forge the signatures. The scheme was uncovered, the FBI and the INS raided Kooritzky's office, arrested him and Bogardus, and seized approximately $11 million in fees collected from the victims. Bogardus pled guilty. Two other employees, Inderjeet Kaur and Carolina Trana have pled guilty and agreed to testify against Kooritzky. Kooritzky's trial was held during the week of December 2, 2002. The jury found him guilty on all counts. Bryan Shaughnessy, Kooritzky's attorney, asserted in motions to the Judge that the Judge moved the trial too quickly and made it difficult for him to defend Kooritzky, who is now in jail for ten years. The local INS District Director Warren Lewis has declined to grant any particular status to the victims of Kooritzky-Bogardus but he has observed that local immigration judges are taking as much as a year to a year and a half before final removal orders are entered. Judge Burgess, Superior Court signed an Order certifying the class action in Mbaye Faye, et al v. Samuel Kooritzky, et al, Civil Case No. 02ca8322. To read the order, see: /articles/2003,0422-kooritzky.pdf. This means that the people described in the class action may now proceed against Mr. Kooritzky, Bogardus, and such other defendants as may be named later to obtain restitution, compensatory damages and punitive damages.
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