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Thursday, November 28, 2013

MCFI USA joins long list of crooks who mislead EB-5 visa investors in attempt to defraud them. Regional Centers lie and cheat because they can't survive doing business honestly.

I reviewed MCFI's site  ( http://www.mcfiusa.com/TheInvestment/InvestingDirectlyvsaRegionalCenter.aspx) and discovered that like all regional centers, they are outright lying to and misleading EB-5 visa investors in an attempt to fraudulently deprive EB-5 visa investors of their hard earned money.

As usual, I will list the reasons why I call them liars, and if I am wrong, they are welcome to objectively rebut my statements on this blog for the world to see:

  1. MCFI claims "The foreign investor must seek out and identify an investment project that meets all of the requirements need to qualify for the EB-5 visa standard program before he leaves his native land." I say that this statement is false for 2 reasons: a) Several investors were actually in the US when they selected which business they wanted to go ahead with, b) Experienced Business Advisers and Brokers like myself often recommend great business opportunities to clients, and my clients have gone ahead with my recommendations with great results such as 100% approval of visa petitions since 2004, ZERO capital loss and ZERO operating loss since 2004. 
  2. MCFI claims "The foreign investor must submit a computer generated IMPLAN or RIMS II job creation study to the USCIS to qualify the project for acceptance." I say this is a lie and there is no such requirement in Direct Investment and anyone who says so is a liar.
  3. MCFI claims "The foreign investor must submit an economic impact study for the project to the USCIS to document the economic impact that the project will have on the local, regional, state and national economy." I say this is a lie. Worst case scenario, the investor has to just submit a business plan, and anyone who says so otherwise is either a liar or unfamiliar with EB-5.
  4. MCFI claims " The foreign investor must invest at least $1,000,000 in the project." I think everyone knows that this is a lie too!
  5. MCFI claims "The foreign investor must have daily direct management involvement and responsibility in the business or project" To this, I say "Nonsense!"An EB-5 visa investor can have their business in FL and study / work in another state, without any restrictions whatsoever. I've multiple clients who've done this in the past and a few clients are still doing this by hiring managers to operate their business and remotely managing their business with weekly or fortnightly visits to their business.
  6. MCFI claims "Because of (5) above, the foreign investor must live in the area where the project is located and he has a limited ability to return and visit his native country during the term if his investment and until he becomes a citizen (usually 5 years or more)." I say, "You lie MCFI!" People can and do live out of state and can also visit their home countries without any restrictions.
  7. MCFI claims "The foreign investor is directly responsible at all times that his investment has created 10 new jobs. This must be documented and reported every 3 months to the USCIS." I say this is again a lie because an investor has 2 years to create 10 jobs, and usually my clients create 10 new jobs PROFITABLY within the first year itself.
  8. In statement #12, MCFI claims "Projects for investment are limited in scope since pooled funds from several investors are not allowed and there is only one RB-5 investor in a project." To this, I say BS!
So far, we've seen that 8 out of 12 statements made by MCFI are FALSE, which basically strips them of their credibility in the eyes of EB-5 visa investors. I won't even mention the attempt to mislead about exit strategies, and will just say that our exit strategies is exponentially better than MCFI's on any given day of the week. MCFI pays a lot of money to their marketing team but doesn't even check it's own statements for factual accuracy and definitely doesn't believe in candour and transparency.

I can honestly say that MCFI has not only offered and sold securities illegally overseas, they have also violated US and overseas securities laws AND committed securities fraud. EB-5 visa investors need to ask the following questions of all regional centers and partnerships in order to detect and prevent fraud:

1.    Will you give notarized Guarantee of full and ongoing disclosure of all material information?
2.    Will you give notarized Guarantee of freedom from fraud and conflict of interest?
3.    Will you give notarized Guarantee of full refund of your fees in case you’re rejected by USCIS?

All EB-5 visa seekers should also ask the following questions of regional centers and partnerships to detect fraud:

1) What is the mean and median amount of capital loss experienced by EB-5 visa seekers who invest in your regional center or partnership?

Capital loss is very commonly experienced by EB-5 visa investors in regional centers and other partnerships.

2) What is the mean and median processing time for regional center sponsored I-526 and I-829 petitions?

EB-5 visa petitions filed by regional centers and other partnerships now take about twice as long as Direct Investment businesses to get approved.

3) What is the mean and median lock in period for capital in regional centers?

EB-5 visa investors are usually stuck for 5-9 years in regional centers.

4) What is the mean and median annual ROI that is offered by the partnership / regional center?

EB-5 visa investors usually earn 1% or less in regional centers.

5) Are the business founders, CFO and CEO willing to offer written guarantees of FULL disclosure of material facts on an ongoing basis as well as freedom from fraud and conflict of interest?

Avoid those who refuse to guarantee this in a notarised affidavit.

6) Are you offering and selling securities in full compliance of US and overseas securities laws?

Avoid those who refuse to confirm this in a notarised affidavit.

A simple way for EB-5 visa investors to detect & prevent fraud is to demand the following safeguards from those who offer EB-5 visa related services:

1) A written guarantee by the top 5 officers of the regional center / partnership firm AND the marketer, confirming that they will clearly disclose all material information on an ongoing basis, as failure to do so is classified as SECURITIES FRAUD.

2) A written guarantee that the marketer and regional center / partnership officers will NOT engage in conflict of interest, and will procure goods / services and hire employees in a transparent and competitive manner.

3) A written guarantee to fully refund an investor's fees in case the investor's petition is rejected due to the fault of the regional center.

4) A full disclosure of the amount of capital that the firm's founders and investors have invested and the percentage of ownership stake and profits that they will get.


EB-5 visa seekers should remember that Direct Investment businesses are THE BEST option to get the EB-5 visa quickly, safely and usually profitably for the following reasons:
  1. Faster processing and approval times.
  2. Easy exit strategy.
  3. Investors usually get a much higher Return on Investment.
  4. Investors usually get a much higher Capital gain, whereas regional center investors usually get capital losses.
  5. Our clients have a 100% approval rate of I-526 and I-829, while those who choose regional centers or other partnerships don't.
  6. Our clients have very little risk as we conduct extensive due diligence and work hard to prevent fraud and conflict of interest, whereas regional centers and partnerships are overrun with fraud and conflict of interest.
EB-5 visa investors need to remember that we offer THE BEST service when it comes to offering a turnkey solution for the following reasons:
  1.  Our clients ALWAYS have full control of their business and their money. Those who choose our competitors usually have to kiss their money goodbye, and are STUCK for 5-9 years.
  2. We offer a written guarantee of freedom from fraud and conflict of interest, whereas our competitors usually don't offer this guarantee.
  3. We offer a written guarantee of FULL disclosure of material facts on an ongoing basis, whereas our competitors usually don't offer this guarantee.
  4. We offer a written guarantee of full fee refund in case a client is rejected due to our team's fault, while our competitors usually don't offer this guarantee because they are incompetent cowards who are unsure about the quality of their work.
  5. Since 2004, our clients have NEVER been denied at the I-526 and I-829 stage, and have NEVER suffered operating or capital losses, and have usually earned over 22% annual Return on Equity because of our focus on due diligence and our extensive efforts to reduce risk by preventing fraud and conflict of interest. Try finding a regional center or partnership that boasts of this record.
If you're an EB-5 visa investor who wants to get their green card quickly, safely and in a usually profitable manner, please contact us. You'll be glad you did!

Yours truly,
Mohammed Shaikh, Licensed RE and Business Broker (CA & FL)
Phone: +1 407 535 0616 Online: htttp://www.smartbusinessbroker.com