TACOMA – A church pastor has been convicted of conspiracy, visa fraud and obstruction of justice after prosecutors said he helped Korean nationals file fraudulent visa applications claiming they were coming to the United States to serve as religious workers at his church.
The U.S. attorney’s office said Dong Wan Park, pastor of Hope Korean Church, advertised in Korean language newspapers that immigration visas were available through his church.
Prosecutors claimed he charged as much as $30,000 to provide people with visa paperwork including phony transcripts from a Korean seminary and a certificate of ordination from a Korean bishop.
Park, 52, signed the petitions, which said the applicants were to be associate pastors at the Hope Korean Church and would be paid $24,000 per year. None of the applicants were ever employed at the church or had any religions training, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
When the alleged scheme began to unravel, prosecutors said, Park tried to get applicants to change their stories and mislead investigators.
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