NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS AUG 24 2021 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT GRIGORII DURALEV, No. 19-71703 Petitioner, Agency No. A208-814-399 v. MEMORANDUM* MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney General, Respondent. On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals Submitted June 30, 2021** Pasadena, California Before: OWENS and R. NELSON, Circuit Judges, and HELLERSTEIN,*** District Judge. Grigorii Duralev, a native and citizen of Russia, petitions pro se for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (“BIA”) decision affirming the Immigration * This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. ** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). *** The Honorable Alvin K. Hellerstein, United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York, sitting by designation. Judge’s (“IJ”) order denying his applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We deny the petition. 1. “An applicant is ineligible for asylum and withholding if there are ‘serious reasons’ to believe that he ‘committed a serious nonpolitical crime’ outside the United States prior to his arrival.” Guan v. Barr, 925 F.3d 1022, 1031 (9th Cir. 2019) (citing 8 U.S.C. §§ 1158(b)(2)(A)(iii), 1231(b)(3)(B)(iii)); see also 8 C.F.R. § 1208.16(d)(2). We have interpreted the “serious reasons” standard as “tantamount to probable cause.” Go v. Holder, 640 F.3d 1047, 1052 (9th Cir. 2011) (citation omitted). Probable cause exists when there is a “fair probability” that the defendant was involved in the crime. Silva-Pereira v. Lynch, 827 F.3d 1176, 1189 (9th Cir. 2016) (citation omitted). The Russian arrest warrant and the Interpol Red Notice, containing detailed factual allegations, are sufficient to establish the requisite probable cause. See Villalobos Sura v. Garland, No. 20- 71839, 2021 WL 3627251, at *4–5 (9th Cir. Aug. 17, 2021). Nor can Duralev meet his burden of showing by a preponderance of the evidence that there are not serious reasons to believe he committed the crime. See 8 C.F.R. § 1208.16(d)(2). He provides several news sources reporting that the Russian government brings false charges against political opponents and abuses Red Notices. A letter from his Russian attorney also outlines how Duralev was 2 allegedly framed for fraud. But Duralev does not dispute that he was the subject of an investigation for fraud. The thorough investigation presented in the extensive record shows that Duralev was provided numerous opportunities to assert his innocence. Moreover, Duralev does not proffer sufficient evidence that the Russian government was either misusing the Red Notice process in this instance or that it was targeting him based on his politics. Consequently, his evidence does not compel this court to find a lack of probable cause. See Silva-Pereira, 827 F.3d at 1184, 1189. 2. Duralev is not entitled to deferral of removal under CAT because “[s]ubstantial evidence supports the BIA’s finding that it is not …
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals