Bergen County Man Convicted In Chinese Visa Conspiracy: Officials

FORT LEE, NJ — A resident of Fort Lee was convicted in a conspiracy to get U.S. visas for Chinese government employees and hide his actions from the U.S. government, federal officials said.

Zhongsan Liu, 59, ran an office of the China Association for the International Exchange of Personnel (CAIEP) in Fort Lee, according to a news release from the Department of Justice. The CAIEP is an agency of the Chinese government, the DOJ said.

"Among other activities, CAIEP engages in talent-recruitment for the benefit of the PRC, including recruiting U.S. scientists, academics, engineers and other experts to work in China,"a news release said.

Liu was convicted on one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to commit visa fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of five years.

"From 2017 up to and including September 2019, Liu worked with others to fraudulently procure J-1 research scholar visas for PRC (People's Republic of China) government employees in order to enable those employees to unlawfully work for CAIEP in the United States and to conceal that unlawful work from the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security," the DOJ said.