Washington D.C., Nov. 21, 2023
“All offering materials, including those provided to investors seeking residency under the EB-5 program, must contain accurate disclosures about the securities being issued,” said Thomas P. Smith, Jr., Associate Regional Director in the New York Regional Office
Nadim Ahmed, a New York based businessman and owner of NuRide Transportation Group, LLC and NYC Green Transportation Group was charged with fraudulent and false security offerings to investors in hope of EB5 Visa. The Securities and Exchange commission also took action against Mr. Ahmed’s ally Mehreen Shah, a New York based immigration attorney with the charges of raising $66 million from over 100 investors.
The EB5 Visa Program allows investors to invest a certain sum of money in return for which they receive permanent residency in The United States of America. If they invest a qualifying amount in a newly established business in the United States that produces a specific number of full-time, permanent jobs for eligible Americans they will be eligible for a green card.
The SEC’s complaint stated that approximately between June 2014 and December 2018, Ahmed, NuRide, and NYC Green misled investors present in the NYC Green program that the company would be run in accordance with the guidelines of the EB-5 visa program. They also falsely claimed that NYC Green’s principals had invested $11 million in the business. Furthermore, despite informing investors that NYC Green would be running the transportation company, Ahmed, NuRide, and NYC Green were accused of placing significant revenue-generating contracts under NuRide’s name.
It was also established that Ahmed and Mehreen Shah have sold unregistered offerings to individuals residing in the US in three different offerings. Due to these illegal and undocumented transactions, there were complaints by the investors of not receiving their green cards even after complying to each ask by Mr. Ahmed and Co.
An Investor Alert was generated by the Securities and Exchange commission in order to warn individuals about the fraudulent activities going on in the name sake of EB5 Visa. The complaint filed against Ahmed, NYC Green, and NuRide in the US District Court held them guilty on charges of violating anti-fraud provisions of the EB5 Visa Program. Civil Penalties, Disgorgement and conduct based injunctions were also ordered to the guilty party.
This news article was originally published on USCIS website.
