Tri-Valley University founder sentenced to 16 years

San Jose Mercury News 07 November 2014

The president and CEO of a private college that catered to foreign students has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for defrauding the Department of Homeland Security by issuing phony visa-related documents to international students in exchange for tuition and fees, writes Karina Ioffee for San Jose Mercury News.

Prosecutors say Susan Xiao-Ping Su, the founder of Pleasanton-based Tri-Valley University, lied about the school's admission and graduation requirements in order to bring international students to the United States on an F-1, or student, visa. In exchange, Su collected more than US$5 million in fees, money that she used to buy multiple properties around Pleasanton along with a Mercedes-Benz, prosecutors said.

The 44-year-old Su was convicted earlier this year on 31 counts of wire and mail fraud, visa fraud, harbouring undocumented immigrants, money laundering and other related charges.
During the three-week trial, employees testified that the university had no requirements for admission or graduation and that Su routinely instructed her staff to create fake transcripts and other university documents.
Full report on the San Jose Mercury News site

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