USCA11 Case: 20-11107 Date Filed: 10/13/2021 Page: 1 of 23 [PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 20-11107 ____________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus APPROXIMATELY $299,873.70 SEIZED FROM A BANK OF AMERICA ACCOUNT, ending in the number 5538 held by an individual identified as P.Q., et al., Defendants, APPROXIMATELY $281,110.00 SEIZED FROM AN EAST WEST BANK ACCOUNT, ending in the number 2471 held by an individual identified as USCA11 Case: 20-11107 Date Filed: 10/13/2021 Page: 2 of 23 2 Opinion of the Court 20-11107 Z.D., APPROXIMATELY $297,110.00 SEIZED FROM AN EAST WEST BANK ACCOUNT, ending in the number 4817 held by an individual identified as W.H., APPROXIMATELY $249,816.00 SEIZED FROM AN EAST WEST BANK ACCOUNT, ending in the number 8289 held by an individual identified as H.C., APPROXIMATELY $299,983.49 SEIZED FROM A J.P. MORGAN CHASE ACCOUNT, ending in the number 0350 held by an individual identified as L.G., APPROXIMATELY $278,952.11 SEIZED FROM AN EAST WEST BANK ACCOUNT, ending in the number 4841 held by an individual identified as M.Y., Defendants-Appellants. ____________________ Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama D.C. Docket No. 1:16-cv-00545-KD-N ____________________ USCA11 Case: 20-11107 Date Filed: 10/13/2021 Page: 3 of 23 20-11107 Opinion of the Court 3 Before WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge, LAGOA, Circuit Judge, and SCHLESINGER,* District Judge. WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge: The main issue on appeal is whether foreign nationals have a constitutional right to enter the United States to attend a civil for- feiture trial involving their property. Several Chinese nationals paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to an expansive, multinational criminal enterprise to obtain immigration visas based on non-exist- ent employment at non-existent businesses. The United States brought an in rem action to forfeit money the Chinese nationals deposited in American bank accounts as part of the visa scam. Some of the Chinese nationals were unable to enter the United States to attend the trial, but they were represented by counsel throughout the proceedings. Five Chinese nationals who received unfavorable verdicts argue that their inability to attend trial vio- lated the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Because the district court did not violate the Due Process Clause and we discern no other basis to disturb the jury’s verdict, we affirm. I. BACKGROUND The EB-1C immigration visa permits “[c]ertain multina- tional executives and managers” to move to the United States “to continue to render services to the same employer” for whom they *Honorable Harvey Schlesinger, United States District Judge for the Middle District of Florida, sitting by designation. USCA11 Case: 20-11107 Date Filed: 10/13/2021 Page: 4 of 23 4 Opinion of the Court 20-11107 worked abroad “or to a subsidiary or affiliate thereof.” 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(1)(C). Like other employment-based visas, the EB-1C visa provides the recipient a basis for becoming a lawful permanent resident and perhaps later a citizen. A group of Americans and co-conspirators based in China schemed to obtain EB-1C visas fraudulently for Chinese nationals. The …
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