Marcus Taslim, a 70-year-old resident of Folsom, has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for visa fraud. The announcement was made by Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith. In addition to the prison sentence, Taslim is required to pay $39,000 in restitution to the victim.
Court documents reveal that Taslim brought an individual from Indonesia to the United States in December 2018 under false pretenses. The victim was intended to provide caregiving services for Taslim’s mother. To facilitate this, Taslim obtained a non-immigrant visa through deceptive means. He misled a consular officer about the duration of the victim’s stay and financial arrangements, falsely claiming that she would be paid according to California’s wage laws and had already received her first month’s salary.
Once the consular officer approved the visa based on these assurances, Taslim coerced the victim into returning her advance salary. During her time in the United States, she worked extensive hours for approximately six months without receiving fair compensation or regular payments as promised. Furthermore, Taslim confiscated her passport, preventing her from leaving until June 2019 when intervention by the Folsom Police Department allowed her departure.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elliot C. Wong.
