LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Beverly Hills man has pleaded guilty to fraudulently enrolling hundreds of foreigners as students in his vocational schools so they could stay in the U.S.
Hee Sun Shim entered pleas on Feb. 9 in Los Angeles to federal conspiracy and immigration document fraud. He could face up to 15 years in federal prison.
Shim owned four Southern California vocational schools.
Prosecutors say the schools were actually a “pay-to-stay” scheme that enrolled students from South Korea and China who never attended classes but paid thousands of dollars to obtain phony records for student visas.
Prosecutors say some students actually were living thousands of miles away.
Two of Shim’s employees previously pleaded guilty and await sentencing.