Vietnam Investors Bombarded With Fraudulent EB-5 Scams

You would think that I'd seen it ALL after six years of doing EB-5 business in my beloved Vietnam, but unscrupulous EB-5 marketers have hit an all time low in the past few weeks. As a former U.S. visa officer who has been playing by the EB-5 rules which watching others cheat and lie and steal, it makes me sick.  In the hope that this will save at least a few of our valued Vietnamese readers from "too good to be true" scams, let me AGAIN state what is clear and established under EB-5 law:

1- There is no such thing as "EB-5 Financing".  It is a SCAM.  The language of the law, the regulations, and an extensive history of case law requires that an investor must have their funds at risk.  The trick of promising financing and then losing the downpayment started 20 years ago in China and deceived thousands of investors.  Don't fall for it.

2- While an EB-5 investor CAN borrow money to make the investment (assuming they can document the source of funds) by mortaging a property or accepting a loan from a family member, etc., they CANNOT borrow money from the project in which they are investing.  No exceptions.

3- The notion that an EB-5 investment can be "guaranteed" by the project in which the EB-5 funds are invested has always been prohibited and it remains so today.

I would estimate that more than half of our Vietnamese AVS' EB-5 investors came to us after being ripped off by lies, schemes, and absolutely false promises made by dishonest immigration agents who disappear with their money.  Please, do your homework, and don't be victimised by lies.  If it sounds too good to be true, that's because it is FRAUD.  

Jose Latour 

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