Buying the American Dream
White sandy beaches, trendy shops and restaurants, spectacular mansions -- welcome to sunny Naples, Florida -- where the wealthy live and play on the Gulf of Mexico coast.
Once a sleepy seaside town, Naples is now booming and a home to many millionaires and billionaires -- including the family of Anthony Korda. "I grew up in London. I'm pretty much London born and bred," Korda said. Korda, his wife of 18 years and their two kids became U.S. citizens this year. They used their bank account to make it happen. "We wanted the American lifestyle, we wanted the American dream," he said.
The British lawyer says in 2007 he was the first EB-5 investor in Jay Peak's $275-million expansion, trading a $500,000 investment in the Vermont ski resort for green cards for him and his family.
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Korda is one of 550 investors from 60 countries who combined put up $275-million for the first wave of expansion at Jay Peak. "I would not have invested in Jay Peak if I wasn't going to get a green card out of it. I was willing to trade my $500,000 with very little return on my investment in return for immigration benefits -- that's the payment, that's the quid pro quo," Korda said.
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Korda visited Vermont in October. He was checking on his own investment, but also others. He was inspired to help people become citizens using the same path he did. He now practices immigration law in Naples, working with EB-5 investors from all over the world. "In the last five years I've represented at least 250 EB-5 investors," he said.
He has two offices in Florida, one in California and one in London. Korda was raised middle class and worked hard as a lawyer to become a millionaire. He and his family now live in a 4,000 square foot home in Naples. Korda says in this ritzy town being a millionaire is considered middle class. He says he was able to afford the $500,000 EB-5 investment because of a family inheritance. Korda knows some people don't like the program, arguing it's a way for wealthy people to buy the American Dream. But Korda says the U-S was built on immigration - and his investment is helping a region that needs his cash.
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http://www.wcax.com/story/23895536/bu
Uh, yeah. It sure is a way for wealthy people to buy citizenship. This whole project in the Kingdom is hinky as hell.
