US regulator freezes assets of immigration consultant accused of defrauding 250 Chinese investors

American regulators have frozen the assets of an investment consultant accused of defrauding millions of US dollars from 250 Chinese applying for US residency.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission alleges that Lobsang Dargey, CEO of immigration investment consultancy Path America, raised at least US$125 million from investors. But he “diverted” US$14 million into real estate projects “unrelated” to the investment proposals pitched to investors, while a further US$3 million went on “personal use including the purchase of his US$2.5 million home and cash withdrawals at casinos,” the SEC announced.

Based in Washington state, the company has offices in Hong Kong and Beijing.

“We allege that Dargey promised investors their money would be used to develop specific real estate projects approved under the EB-5 programme, but he misused millions of dollars to enrich himself and jeopardised investors’ prospects for US residency,” said Jina Choi, director of the SEC’s San Francisco regional office.

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“Dargey failed to tell investors that he and his companies had departed from the business plan by using investor money for personal expenses and unrelated projects,” the SEC announced.