Immigration Attorney Faces Additional Charges For Alleged Immigration Fraud And Witness Tampering

ATLANTA - Bonnie Monique Youn has been arraigned on additional federal charges that she submitted false documentation on behalf of three new clients who were aliens seeking immigration status in the United States.  She has been charged with two new counts of visa fraud, two new counts of alien harboring, and two new counts of witness tampering. 

“The additional charges against this attorney reflect that her illegal actions on behalf of certain immigration clients are more extensive.  Instead of working within the bounds of the law, she filed false immigration documents with the U.S. Government and encouraged several clients to lie to federal agents who were conducting an investigation,” said Acting United States Attorney John Horn.

“The defendant, who swore to uphold the law, instead allegedly sought to enrich herself by undermining the integrity of our immigration system by filing false documents,” said acting Special Agent in Charge Ryan L. Spradlin, ICE Homeland Security Investigations in Atlanta. “To compound these initial crimes, the defendant now stands accused of tampering with witnesses in the investigation in a failed attempt to conceal her illicit activities. Creating vulnerabilities in our immigration system raises serious national security concerns that HSI will vigorously investigate.”

According to Acting United States Attorney Horn, the charges and other information presented in court: From February 9, 2009, to the present, for her personal financial gain, immigration attorney Bonnie Monique Youn encouraged and induced three aliens to reside in the United States in violation of the law.  Youn also engaged in visa fraud by filing documents that were false with respect to material facts.  Then, once the investigation into Ms. Youn was underway, she engaged in witness tampering by telling two aliens to provide false information to federal agents when they were questioned.  Youn also attempted to persuade one of the aliens to provide a false statement to a Federal grand jury. 

Bonnie Monique Youn, 45, of Atlanta, Ga., was arraigned today before United States Magistrate Judge Gerrilyn G. Brill.  The superseding indictment, which added charges against Youn, was returned by a federal grand jury on January 27, 2015.  Youn was previously released on a $25,000 unsecured bond, and ordered to surrender her United States passport.

Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges.  The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

This case is being investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Document Benefit Fraud Task Force comprised of Special Agents with HSI, the United States Department of Labor-Office of the Inspector General, the United States Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service, as well as Fraud Detection/National Security Officers of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Assistant United States Attorneys Susan Coppedge and William L. McKinnon, Jr.  are prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.