Opinion ID: 4558485
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Long and Wildflowers Boutique in Alabama

Text: Terri Long and her daughter owned Wildflowers Boutique, a women’s clothing store in Orange Beach, Alabama. In September 2011, defendant Jimenez and his father-in-law Tom Wayne approached Long about a business deal to expand her business and start a clothing label using their connections in China. To set up the deal, Long had her bookkeeper give Jimenez business documents he requested, such as bank account records and tax documents. Unbeknownst to Long, Jimenez caused to be filed an I-140 petition for an EB-1C visa in Wildflower Boutique’s name on behalf of Weihua Xu as the Chinese beneficiary. As with Jet Blast’s I-140 petition and supporting documents, the I-140 petition and accompanying cover letter filed in Wildflowers Boutique’s petition. In another email to Jimenez, a co-conspirator was trying to get more information about Jet Blast in order to create the fake bank account statement. 11 Case: 18-10569 Date Filed: 08/25/2020 Page: 12 of 25 name represented that Wildflowers Boutique and the Chinese company, Viva Group Co. Ltd, China, had entered into a joint venture, and the joint venture would employ Weihua Xu as a multinational executive or manager. Long remembered signing documents at Jimenez’s request, but she did not know if she signed the I-140 petition. Long remembered meeting Weihua Xu, the Chinese beneficiary, and others once for lunch and a brief tour of her store. However, Jimenez never discussed with Long filing an I-140 petition for a Chinese national or having Weihua Xu work for Long, and Long did not know the Chinese company, Viva Group, listed on the joint venture agreement with Wildflowers Boutique. Long did not recall signing the joint venture agreement and said that the signature on the agreement did not look like hers and that statements in the agreement about a business relationship with Viva Group were false. Long also did not sign the cover letter accompanying the documentation. Although Long received two checks from Jimenez (totaling about $5,000), she never entered into any business relationship with the Chinese businessperson connected to Jimenez. Jimenez’s signature on one of the checks closely resembled the witness signature on the joint venture agreement.