US citizenship scam

Businessman in U.S citizenship scam on trial

Hansen, 64, has been charged with 16 counts of fraud and two counts of encouraging illegal immigration for financial gain, according to U.S. District Judge Morrison England.

Hansen and his agents, who operated in such far-flung locales as Tonga and Hawaii, allegedly charged undocumented immigrants between $150 and $10,000 each on the false promise that they’d become U.S. citizens after adoption.

Sacbee reports the victims, some of them as old as 50, were also promised tax identification numbers, birth certificates, Social Security numbers and, ultimately, U.S. passports.