November 29 2013
Khadijeh Muaveny had a long sob-story about fleeing oppression in Iran and living a life of poverty in the United States, but US government investigators say she led a comfortable life abroad before coming to California and running a profitable business that was made cushier when she defrauded the federal government of $98,000.
In the United States, Muaveny obtained permanent residency status, claimed a serious back injury and took nearly $98,000 in government benefits including Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and other welfare payments that she was not entitled to.
This was despite the fact that she quietly operated a money-making day care center and had more than $350,000 in as many as 15 bank accounts in multiple states and under multiple names.
The OC Weekly in Orange County, California, reports Mua-veny invented a fake story about a torturous trip fleeing persecution in Iran while, in fact, she had been living comfmoving to the US.
But Sweden wasn’t in her story. She told everyone in the US that she was persecuted by the government in Iran, walked to Kurdistan in May 1997, got smuggled into Turkey, flew from Europe to Mexico City, hired alien smugglers to transport her into California and asked for asylum after her 25-day ordeal.
Questioned by federal officials, Muaveny also lied about her profitable daycare operation, claiming she merely took care of her grandchildren, according to court records.
But OC Weekly said she had obtained a state daycare license and had no grandchildren.
Following her arrest, she claimed poverty, apparently in hopes of avoiding a court order that she re-pay the $98,000.
Federal prosecutors said they would agree Muaveny should serve no prison time if she paid back all the $98,000 plus a $30,000 fine and was banned from the United States.
But Muaveny’s defense lawyer argued that she has a “caring character” and is truly a democracy activist determined to bring about regime change in Iran.
Muaveny eventually signed a guilty plea but insisted she can’t afford to re-pay the government benefits she illegally took.
She also got former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, who headed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush, to write a supportive letter to a California judge.
Ridge, a major advocate for the Mojahedin-e Khalq, said he got to know Muaveny “through our mutual support of an international organization promoting a secular, democratic, non-nuclear Iran.” Ridge also wrote that he believes she has good character and admits her mistakes.
Last week, US District Court Judge Josephine L. Staton determined that Muaveny wasn’t being truthful about her finances and ordered her to “immediately” pay nearly $128,000 to the government for falsely-claimed benefits and for fines. In lieu of prison time, Staton told Muaveny she must leave the country forever after making the payments.