Gerardo Dean, 58, of Park Ridge, an attorney who worked out of an office at 4849 North Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago, and Felicitas Cordero, 76, of Buffalo Grove, an employee for a Chicago-area nursing facility, are facing federal charges for allegedly committing immigration fraud. | Photo: Google Street View

A nursing facility hiring coordinator from Buffalo Grove and an attorney are both facing federal charges after prosecutors say they provided false information to obtain visas for foreign nationals.

Gerardo Dean, 58, of Park Ridge, owned a law office in Chicago and represented a company that operated skilled nursing facilities in the northern Illinois area.

An indictment returned in U.S. District Court in Chicago alleges that Dean conspired with a company employee, Felicitas Cordero, 76, of Buffalo Grove, to provide false and fraudulent information to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on behalf of individuals in the Philippines who were seeking U.S. visas.

Prosecutors said Dean and Cordero filed and caused to be filed fraudulent H-1B and EB-2 visa petitions representing that the foreign nationals had managerial, supervisory or higher-level jobs waiting for them at the company.

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In actuality, Dean and Cordero knew that the foreign nationals would work for the company as staff or registered nurses at lower rates of pay than what was stated in the visa petitions, according to the indictment.

Dean and Cordero also allegedly instructed the foreign nationals to provide false information about the purported managerial, supervisory or higher-level jobs during their overseas consular interviews.

Prosecutors said Dean and Cordero did so knowing that U.S. immigration officials had a higher likelihood of approving H-1B or EB-2 visa petitions that stated the employer would hire a foreign national in those higher-level positions.

The charges allege that the two collected money from foreign nationals who they helped fraudulently obtain the visas to work at the company and that Dean also collected money from the company for his fraudulent conduct.

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The indictment charges Dean and Cordero with one count of conspiracy to commit immigration fraud and three counts of immigration fraud.

While prosecutors did not disclose the name of the skilled nursing facility where Cordero worked, a LinkedIn profile for Cordero listed Glen Oaks Nursing and Rehab Center in Northbrook as the company.

The indictment said Cordero was responsible for recruiting and hiring for the company.

Dean and Cordero were arraigned Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Manish S. Shah and pleaded not guilty to the charges.