A South Windsor woman who federal officials said posed as an immigration attorney and stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from people seeking immigration services has been sentenced to five years in prison, according to the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Khatija Khan, 41, of South Windsor, was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison followed by three years of supervised release. The victims who have been identified have lost at least $326,212, federal officials said.
Federal officials, citing court documents and statements made in court, said Khan and her husband, Babar Khan, operated JLLAS CORP. and EIMAAN LLC, which were created to provide services to clients involved in proceedings with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
From 2015 to 2020, they recruited clients, many of who were living in the U.S. without legal status and had limited education, a limited ability to understand English, and little to no knowledge of the documents that the Khans were filing on their behalf, according to the United States Attorney’s office.
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They said Khatija Khan represented herself as an attorney with a background in immigration matters, but she was not an attorney and the couple prepared petitions and applications for their clients that contained information that they knew to be false.
They were also accused of fabricating false documents without their clients’ knowledge.
Federal officials said many of the Khans’ clients paid them significant amounts of money and received no relief from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
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Khatija and Babar Khan were arrested on Dec. 19, 2019, federal officials said, and Khatija Khan continued to defraud multiple clients after she was arrested, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
On Nov. 19, 2021, Khatija Khan pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and one count of mail fraud. The judge ordered her to pay full restitution.
Khatija Khan, who is released on bond, is required to report to prison on December 14.
On Feb. 28, 2022, Babar Khan pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and one count of making and subscribing a false tax return. He is scheduled to be sentenced today.
