Washington, DC [US], October 27 (ANI) – Tenzin Norbu, 56, has been sentenced to 27 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $170,000 for his role in a scheme to submit false asylum applications for financial gain, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
The sentence was handed down on October 15 by Judge Kimba M. Wood of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. Norbu was convicted of conspiracy to commit immigration fraud and making false statements on asylum applications.
The case was uncovered after a joint investigation by USCIS, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which spanned more than three years.
Between 2007 and 2018, Norbu and associates submitted multiple asylum applications containing fabricated claims that applicants were Tibetan and would face persecution if returned to Tibet. Norbu charged roughly $5,000 per application and coached clients on answering interview questions based on the false narratives.
Norbu fled to Canada during the investigation, evading US authorities for nearly five years before being extradited. A federal grand jury indicted him in March 2024, and he pled guilty in May 2025 to one count of conspiracy to commit asylum fraud.
Authorities estimate that Norbu profited approximately $170,000 from the scheme. The case affected nearly 100 applicants, some of whom had legitimate asylum claims, while others received asylum based on the fraudulent applications.
