California woman sentenced in fake university case

A San Francisco Bay Area woman has been sentenced to more than 16 years in prison for running what prosecutors say was a sham university that served as a front for a visa scam.

Forty-four-year-old Susan Xiao-Ping Su, founder and president of Pleasanton-based Tri-Valley University, was also ordered during a hearing on Friday to forfeit $5.6 million and pay more than $900,000 in restitution.

She was convicted in March of visa fraud and other charges. Multiple Tri-Valley employees testified that the school had no graduation and admission requirements, and that Su instructed her staff to fabricate transcripts and other documents.

Federal prosecutors say Su was in fact selling visa-related documents that allowed foreigners, mostly Indian nationals, to live and work in the U.S.