Two New York Lawyers Sentenced for Helping Asylum Seekers From Former Soviet Union Falsify Affidavits

Two New York lawyers, husband and wife Arthur Arcadian and Ilona Dzhamgarova, have been sentenced to six months and two years in prison, respectively, for assisting asylum seekers, mostly from the former Soviet Union, to prepare false affidavits and coaching their clients to lie under oath. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said on May 31 that the couple’s Dzhamgarova Firm “advised certain of its clients regarding the manner in which they were most likely to obtain asylum in this country, fully understanding that those clients did not legitimately qualify for asylum.”