SAN FRANCISCO — A Chinese citizen is suing a law firm for alleged professional negligence, fraud and breach of contract concerning his attempt to procure a investor visa.
Hanping Hou, who is currently residing in Palo Alto, CA and is a citizen of the People’s Republic of China, filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of California District Court on Jan. 8 against Pei-Yao Chiu and Monty Chiu and Associates, P.C, which practices in the field of United States immigration law.
In 2010, Hou consulted with Chiu about the possibility of applying for an EB-5 immigrant investor visa. Chiu agreed to represent Hou through the process for citizenship. The law firm received $60,000 from Hou.
In 2011, Hou entered in a joint venture agreement with John C. Wang and gave $1.1 million to Knowledge Decision Services as an investment. Hou and Chiu met several times during the EB-5 application process and for the next three years, the application was pending. In October 2015, Chiu admitted that he had never filed the EB-5 petition on Hou’s behalf.
Hou is seeking to prove professional negligence, fraud as intentional misrepresentation and breach of contract. Hou is seeking the $60,000 paid, exemplary and compensatory damages and costs of the suit. Buaghman and Wang are representing Hou.
Northern District of California District Court 516-cv-00123-HRL