ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A man who smuggled ancient artifacts out of Pakistan and into the United States was sentenced today to three years in prison, ordered to forfeit over 1,300 artifacts, and pay a money judgment of over $115,000. The Court also entered an order revoking the man’s U.S. citizenship, which he obtained through fraud.
Ijaz Khan, 42, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, was convicted by a federal jury on February 9. According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Khan was part of a conspiracy that smuggled ancient artifacts including pottery and bronze weapons, which were stolen from burial sites, and ancient coins from a cave temple in Pakistan called the Kashmir Smast. Khan and Vera Lautt, 57, also of Santa Fe, New Mexico, used their business, Indus Valley, to sell the artifacts. One shipment of artifacts was seized at Dulles International Airport in October 2013. Ijaz and others then attempted to obtain the shipment by submitting various false and fraudulent documents to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, some of which purported to be from the Government of Pakistan.
Khan was convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States, procurement of citizenship or naturalization unlawfully, conspiracy to smuggle goods into the United States, smuggling goods into the United States, mail fraud, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, and obstruction of an official proceeding. Lautt was convicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, and procurement of citizenship or naturalization unlawfully.
According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Khan and Lautt submitted fraudulent documents to the U.S. Department of State (DOS) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which enabled Khan to immigrate to the United States in 2003 and later become a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2009. In order to further the conspiracy, Ijaz and Vera concealed Ijaz Khan’s wife and children in Pakistan. The conspiracy included eleven separate attempts to obtain immigration benefits by fraud, five of which were successful and another five of which were still pending as of the date of indictment. According to court records, Ijaz Khan used his fraudulently obtained U.S. citizenship to cause the fraudulent immigration and naturalization of his four oldest children. Khan also filed petitions on behalf of his brother, mother, other wife in Pakistan, and two youngest children.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Steve A. Linick, Inspector General for the Department of State; and Patrick J. Lechleitner, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C., made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Leonie M. Brinkema. Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine L. Wong and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Harrison prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:16-cr-130.