Circus agent pleads guilty in US visa fraud case

MIAMI, Feb 3 (Reuters) A circus agent helped nearly 900 illegal immigrants jump through the hoops of the US visa application process by falsely declaring they were performers hired to work in Florida circuses, authorities said.

Bulgarian-born Kristo Ivanov, a former circus acrobat, admitted that from 2001 through February 2006 he helped as many as 870 immigrants enter or remain in the United States by preparing fraudulent visa applications for them, the US Department of Justice said in a statement yesterday.

Ivanov charged between 500 dollars and 2,500 dollars for each of the bogus applications and agreed, as part of a plea agreement unveiled in US District Court in Orlando yesterday, to forfeit 600,000 dollars, the department said.

It said Ivanov, 70, came to the United States in 1980 to work for Ringling Bros Barnum&Bailey Circus. He owned Magic Star Entertainment, a Florida-based circus booking agency, and used it to sponsor immigrants and prepare visa applications claiming they were performers recruited by Florida circuses.

''In fact, none of the aliens had been hired by any of the circuses listed in the visa applications,'' the Justice Department said.

Reuters SBA VP0426