SEC probes visa scheme for rich investors

Washington

THE US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is expanding a crackdown on a little-known programme to dole out visas to wealthy foreigners in exchange for investments that generate jobs.

The SEC is preparing sanctions against as many as two dozen immigration lawyers, sources said, for collecting deal fees from foreign investors trying to access the EB-5 visa programme, which grants US residency for US$500,000 investments that create 10 jobs. The lawyers were prohibited from earning transaction fees because they weren't registered as brokers, the sources added.