Faces 54 years in jail; $1.5 million in fines.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: Susan Xiao-Ping Su, the woman at the center of the Tri-Valley University (TVU) scandal, has been convicted on all 35 counts regarding her using the California-based institution to run an elaborate visa scheme that duped hundreds of students, mostly from India, into entering the US without the proper paperwork.
Su, 43, was convicted on charges of visa fraud, conspiracy, wire fraud, use of a false document, false statements to a government agency, harboring aliens, gaining unauthorized access to a government computer, and money laundering.
Throughout the trial, which ended on Monday and lasted for three weeks, prosecutors submitted evidence that Su willfully submitted fraudulent documentation to the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement in order to bring unwitting foreign students into the country and extort money from them.
Su made over $5 million through the scheme, which prosecutors said she used to buy herself three houses, two commercial properties, one mansion located on a beautiful golf course, and a red Mercedes-Benz. Testimony of Su accepting students’ money for grades, creating a kickback scheme for students who referred new students, and of Su sending recruiters to India to help find students who would fall for the scheme were also featured during the trial.
Su’s defense attorney, Eric Babcock, argued that Su did not do anything intentionally harmful, saying that she simply wanted to start a college and simply tried to do everything herself, acting “in good faith” but ultimately unable to keep up with everything. Su’s only wrongdoing, according to Babcock, was simply failing at running an institution, which is not a crime in and of itself.
TVU was founded in 2008, but never received proper accreditation. Although Su initially told government officials that the school only had 30 students and nine faculty member, it actually had well over 1,000 students and almost no instructors, with the names Su did submit being teachers at other local institutions.
Investigators got the initial tip about Su and TVU in May of 2010, and she was eventually indicted just under one year later. Now that she’s been found guilty, Su faces a maximum prison sentence of 54 years behind bars, as well as a $1.5 million fine.