U.N. Worker Charged in Immigration Scam

Vyacheslav Manokhin, a U.N. employee based in Manhattan, was accused of helping numerous non-U.S. citizens enter the country illegally by providing fraudulent documents so they could obtain visas to attend conferences that either did not exist or which they did not attend.

The charges in the scheme, which prosecutors said began in April 2005 and was continuing, were outlined in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

Manokhin, 45, was scheduled to appear in court later Monday. The Greenwich, Conn., resident is a Russian citizen.

He was charged with conspiracy to commit fraud with regard to immigration documents, which carries a maximum punishment of five years in prison.

According to court documents, Manokhin used his U.N. position to make it appear as though the U.N. supported the visa applications so that aliens could enter the United States to attend conferences organized by non-government organizations or the United Nations itself.

In most instances, prosecutors said, the alien was successful in obtaining a visa.

Robert Sikorski, a lawyer for Manokhin, did not return a telephone message for comment.

Last update: 08/06/2007

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