Las Vegas woman arrested in alleged visa fraud scheme

A Las Vegas woman was arrested Wednesday in connection with a money laundering scheme that illegally brought Chinese nationals into the U.S. for financial gain, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Haiyan Liao, 43, was charged with “conspiracy to commit visa fraud and to unlawfully bring aliens into the U.S. for financial gain, bringing aliens into the U.S. for financial gain and money laundering conspiracy,” the statement said.

She was accused in an indictment of aiding and abetting illegal immigrants who paid her to submit false visitor visa applications to the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, China. When the applications were approved, the statement said Liao would accompany the immigrants on flights to New York.

“As alleged in the indictment, Liao aided and abetted aliens who paid thousands of dollars for her fraudulent immigration services,” acting U.S. Attorney Seth D. DuCharme of the Eastern Division of New York said in the statement. “The defendant provided fake documents and coached her accomplices regarding how to lie during visa interviews and customs checks.”

Liao’s co-defendant in the indictment, Ned Michael Moriearty, died recently, according to the statement.

Contact Alexis Ford at aford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0335. Follow @alexisdford on Twitter.