According to the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIN), Ajsa Ramic from Visoko and Merjem Mirsada Veladzic from Florida allegedly defrauded dozens of BiH citizens, promising them an easy way to obtain an American visa. “They took about US $140 thousand from them, giving them false hope and falsified documents in return”, the report says.

CIN reports that the two women used Facebook ads, including a video in which they falsely presented themselves as cooperating with the US Embassy in Sarajevo, to defraud those seeking an American visa.

“The business partners, who got to know each other through Facebook only a few days earlier, claimed they cooperate with the US Embassy in BiH and apply on behalf of the citizens for an accelerated visa process. In return, they asked clients to pay around five thousand US dollars to arrange an interview appointment at the Embassy,” the report said.

It said that 36 families signed cooperation contracts with intermediary agents, convinced that the Embassy stands behind them. According to CIN, however, “Veladzic and Ramic neither cooperated nor communicated with Embassy officials, and they gave clients falsified documents.”

The journalists spoke to members of 14 families who said cooperation with these women brought them “disappointment and shame.”

“We were stood up, swindled!” one of the victims, Dzemal Filan, told CIN. He is unsuccessfully trying to get back the money he paid to bring his cousin to the US.
The US Embassy website says one can only apply for a visa in person.

“We do not work with any third party, that is, an intermediary agent,” consul Martin Thomen told CIN, explaining that applicants for immigrant visas do not have to pay in advance.