Bangladeshi UN staffer charged with visa fraud in New York
US prosecutors have charged a United Nations employee in New York with committing visa fraud by bringing into the country a domestic worker from Bangladesh and then failing to pay her a lawful wage.
Hamidur Rashid, a Bangladeshi national, was charged with visa fraud, fraud in foreign labour contracting and aggravated identity theft in a criminal complaint unsealed yesterday in Manhattan federal court.
He was expected to appear in court yesterday afternoon, according to a spokeswoman for US prosecutors.
Hamidur's lawyer could not immediately be identified. The UN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the complaint, Hamidur, who is identified as a program director at the United Nations Development Program in Manhattan, initially contracted with the employee to pay her $420 per week, and submitted that contract to the US State Department to obtain a visa for her.
Once the employee was in the United States in November 2012, the complaint said, Hamidur had her sign a new contract with a wage of $290 per week.
Hamidur took away the worker's passport, and told her at various times during her employment that she would go to jail and then be sent back to Bangladesh if she worked for anyone else, according to the complaint.
At first, Hamidur did not pay her at all, but sent about $600 per month to her husband in Bangladesh, the complaint said. In October 2013, Hamidur did pay the employee $600 for her work that month, according to the complaint.
Hamidur never paid either the employee or her husband the $420 per week wage stipulated in the original contract, the complaint said.
Hamidur is also charged in the complaint with committing identity theft by setting up a sham bank account in the employee's name to make it appear to the UN that he was paying her a lawful wage. In fact, the complaint said, Hamidur and his wife controlled the account.
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