Thousands of people were allegedly charged for visas by a Woodbury couple who didn’t provide the documents and instead spent the money on luxury cars, designer handbags and cosmetic surgeries, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said Monday.
Ellison sued Christian Palacios and Juan Diego Guevara Sanchez and the companies they own, alleging that the two falsely advertised their non-immigrant tourist visa services. Ellison’s lawsuit says Palacios and Guevara Sanchez are married.
Ellison’s office said the investigation into the company stemmed from more than 100 consumer complaints.
“No one should be taken advantage of because they miss their family,” Ellison said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “But that’s what defendants did. They aggressively targeted people who had not seen their parents or siblings for years, offering to obtain tourist visas for people by submitting visa applications on their family members’ behalf. I filed this lawsuit so no one else is harmed or defrauded into giving up their savings, because someone saw people’s love of their families as a way to scam hard-working Minnesotans.”
In the lawsuit, Ellison asserts that the Woodbury couple and their Bloomington-based businesses — Nueva Vision Latinoamerica (also known as Nueva Vision), Nueva Vision Multiservicios LLC, and Multinacional Express LLC — defrauded thousands of customers by advertising that they would obtain tourist visas for their family members who live abroad.
Ellison said the couple charged customers several hundred to several thousand dollars each for a “family reunification” program, then often failed to submit visa applications as promised and failed to make consular appointments as promised.
The couple allegedly asked customers’ family members to send original passports to them and then frequently refused to return the passports unless customers paid hundreds of dollars more, effectively extorting them, Ellison’s office said.
In his complaint, Ellison said the couple allegedly used the money they made fraudulently to support a lavish lifestyle that included buying a BMW, a $183,000 Bentley, Versace handbags and cosmetic surgery.
A call to the Nueva Vision office late Monday afternoon was not immediately returned.
Ellison said anyone who has been victimized by the couple or their businesses can file a complaint by going to ag.state.mn.us and clicking on “File a complaint” (then select the Consumer Assistance Request Form).
His office can be reached by calling 651-296-3353 or 800-657-3787.
Want more insights? Join Working Title - our career elevating newsletter and get the future of work delivered weekly.
