准备针对 EB-5 区域中心的诉讼

Documentation is the Key to Successful Litigation

To adequately prepare for litigation against scams and frauds, investors should keep exhaustive records of all communications and documents pertaining to the investment and immigration process. Litigation against agents, investment issuers, developers, and other parties is very fact-specific, meaning a case is exponentially strengthened by any factual evidence an investor can produce in their favor. Investment issuers and any other third parties are skilled at protecting themselves from litigation with complex clauses in the fine print of project operating documents. The more exhaustive evidence an investor can present, the stronger their case will stand against the opposing party.

Investors may wish to keep a written or digital log of all communications sent and received between themselves and any party involved in their EB-5 process, including but not limited to:

• Official documents, either scanned or downloaded as PDFs
• Phone calls
• SMS, Whatsapp, WeChat, Telegram, or other messaging applications
• Notices, memos and update letters about a project’s development
• Financial statements, invoices, and receipts
• Communications with attorneys, agents, investment specialists, investment issuers, and any other parties in any format
• Travel records, including entry and exit records
• Emails

When keeping records of these communications, ensure that you have evidence of when these documents were received. Timestamps from envelopes, emails, messages, and any other communication will be helpful in the future if a timeline must be established. Do not rely on third party portals, such as the USCIS portal, as a record keeping mechanism. Take screenshots and scans of documents, messages, and notices as you receive them, in the case that documents are lost or deleted.

Whenever an investor signs a document certifying they have received copies of a document, they must ensure they actually received copies of this document. When an investor signs a binding contract, the court will take the contract as the investor’s word, even if the documents have not been received. 

Investors may benefit from having a designated spot (physical or digital, ideally both) which includes at minimum:

• Loan Agreements
• Creditor Agreements
• Business Plans
• Economic reports and updates
• Any additional Exhibits
• Memoranda (Any formal written notices)
• Operating Agreements
• Limited Partnership agreements
• I-526E forms
• I-829 forms
• Receipt notices

Investors should meticulously keep track of these communications, who they are from, when they were received, and through what means they received them. Additionally, if an investor receives numerous copies of one document, they should keep all until the EB-5 process is complete. Keeping a timeline of when each communication is sent or received from any party in the EB-5 process may be useful to attorneys when putting together a legal case.

Translated Documents

Legal translation is a specific skillset often required during litigation to directly translate legal documents for the court. If an investor wishes to use evidence written in a foreign language, it must be translated by a court-certified translator who is a certified fluent speaker. While some investors may try to translate documents themselves to cut costs, even a few mistakes in a translation can create critical legal issues when a translated document is sent to court. If an investor wants to cut costs prior to litigation, they can request legal documents from their issuers in English and another language in order to have multiple copies of the same document prepared for themselves and the court, rather than taking on the translation burden themselves.