How would an EB-5 regional center diverting funds affect an I-829 petition?

Your I-829 petition to remove conditions could be adversely affected if in fact any significant funds were diverted for personal purposes and were large enough to prevent the project from being completed and the jobs created. You should consult with immigration law counsel experienced in representing EB-5 investors.

Unfortunately, this could be the case. More specifics would be needed, but you should immediately confer with competent counsel to try and protect your interests.

It could be serious. If funds were not used as indicated in the business plan for job creation, the I-829 could be rejected.

EB-5 investment must have been utilized to create jobs. If the EB-5 funds were used for personal gains by one of the regional center employees or principals rather than being utilized for job creation, then your I-829 may be in jeopardy. However, former partners have messy break-ups and the mere allegations are not proof positive of real wrongdoing. Your case may be put on hold pending litigation and investigations by the fraud prevention unit of USCIS.

In the USCIS question and answer session online today, a similar question was asked. The answer given was that the situation is being considered and there is no answer at this time.

Diversion of funds from the EB-5 investment may in fact create an obstacle to the approval of your I-829. You should direct this question to the investment immigration attorney that filed your I-829. He or she is in the best position to advise you on this issue.

USCIS tells us that policy is being updated for redeployment of funds, but something like what you describe may be a much more serious issue that will require immigration and securities law advice.

Yes, your petition can be denied because the objectives of the business plan have not been met nor will they be. There is also a good chance the regional center may have its privileges revoked by USCIS. You should contact securities counsel in the United States to fully discuss what options you may have. There may well be a possibility of saving the project, but that will take a lot of effort and money in terms of legal fees.

This can be a complicated matter and usually will require a careful evaluation of the specific facts. However, generally under the circumstances you describe the investor remains eligible to receive his/her permanent resident status as long as it can be shown that the investment was properly made into the EB-5 entity and that the EB-5 entity created the requisite number of U.S jobs.