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Chinese EB-5 Investors Allege $13.4 Million Fraud Tied to Northern Mariana Islands Project

A group of Chinese investors says developers and agents duped them into funding a casino in a U.S. commonwealth that hasn’t broken ground since 2016.

Moustafa Daly

IMI
• Cairo

More than 20 Chinese EB-5 investors sued in New York State Supreme Court seeking $13.4 million, alleging developers, immigration agents, and lawyers misled them into putting over $12 million of EB-5 funds into a casino-resort project in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).

The plaintiffs say the defendants touted government backing and project viability, promised swift EB-5 approvals, and used misleading construction images. Nearly a decade after the planned 2016 start date, they say there is still no casino, no hotel, no EB-5 visas, and no repayment plan.

As per the case filing, the plaintiffs accuse the defendants of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, negligent misrepresentation, and diverting EB-5 funds. They name Xianjun Meng, managing director of the American Northern Marianas Regional Center and CEO of Bridge Investment Group LLC, and his partner, Silvia Siu.

Investors seek restitution, damages, and removal of the defendants from control of the American Northern Marianas Economic Development Fund, LLC (ANMEDF).

Why EB-5 Investors Qualify in the Northern Mariana Islands

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) is treated as part of the United States for immigration purposes, so EB-5 investments and job creation there qualify just as they do on the mainland.

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For lawful permanent residents, time spent living in the CNMI also counts toward U.S. residency and physical presence requirements for different types of residency visas.

The CNMI is a U.S. commonwealth in the Western Pacific Ocean, north of Guam, south of Japan, and about 3,800 miles west of Hawaii, with Saipan (the capital), Tinian, and Rota as its main inhabited islands. Despite its remote location in Micronesia, it is under U.S. sovereignty, and immigration benefits and obligations apply the same as in the continental United States.

Recent EB-5 Fraud Cases

Fraud related to EB-5 isn’t uncommon. In Vermont, two resort projects raised money from hundreds of foreign investors by promising they would qualify for EB-5. Regulators later said the developers misused $200 million of the funds instead of spending them on the projects. The projects collapsed, a receiver took control, and has been unwinding the businesses and trying to recover money for investors, with more than $13 million in receivership costs since 2016.

In California, a San Jose attorney was charged in 2019 with submitting false EB-5 filings and running a $52 million scheme involving more than 100 investors. She was extradited to the U.S. in March 2025 to face those charges. Her former partner pleaded guilty in 2021 to related offenses.

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