Thank you for joining us on our last chapter of our 10 part series. The aim of this chapter is to provide a more detailed description on Southeast Regional Center’s (SRC) team and SRC’s Trusted Partners.
THE TEAM
SRC’s Managing Member and CEO: Moses Choi
Moses Choi has over 32 years of experience working within the finance industry. His background as an Investment Banker with JP Morgan Securities Inc, along with his experience in Loan Underwriting, positioned Mr. Choi to successfully develop and manage EB-5 projects for SRC since its inception in 2010.
Mr. Choi incorporates an “Investor First” approach when selecting, structuring and managing projects within the EB-5 industry. As CEO, he “seeks a high standard for his EB-5 projects” as quoted in USA Today’s February 22, 2024 article. The online newspaper International Business Times states that “SRC’s commitment to transparency and strict adherence to legal frameworks instills confidence among these investors, ensuring the integrity and sustainability of both the immigration process and the manufacturing projects underlying each investment.”
SRC’s Board Advisor: Maurice “Morrie” Berez
Nicknamed the “Father of EB-5,” Morrie Berez brings over 38 years of experience working in the Federal Government, including serving as the former Chief Immigration Officer in charge of Regional Center designation and EB-5 petition adjudication.
Mr. Berez’s seminal work within the USCIS fundamentally shaped the EB-5 industry and he continues to bring valuable insights to SRC’s projects, ensuring that they remain in compliance with USCIS regulations and policies.
SRC’s Director of Finance: Michael Bowen, CFA
Michael Bowen is a CFA® Charterholder who has been working within several private partnerships in the areas of real estate development and management for the past four years. His previous work with Prudential Global Investment Management originating commercial loans furnishes Mr. Bowen with the keen insights he now applies to the organizational and financial structuring of SRC’s EB-5 projects. Mr. Bowen has also served as a university lecturer on the subjects of Finance and Statistics. He is a graduate of Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business and the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business.
SRC’s Director of Operations: Sooaa Son, Esq.
Sooaa Son has over 23 years in the field of law, with more than 10 years dedicated to the practice of all areas of immigration law, including the development, re-structuring and management of the immigration department of a multi-billion dollar, multinational staffing agency. Ms. Son’s background also includes three years of experience with EB-5 Regional Center activities. She is well-versed in the oversight and management of operational systems and compliance procedures, as well as the seamless coordination of the many moving parts of complicated EB-5 projects and the protection of the interests of SRC’s external and internal stakeholders.
SRC’S TRUSTED PARTNERS
Xian Zhang, China Operations Manager [Investment Beijing]
Ms. Zhang has over a decade of EB-5 experience providing expert assistance to individual investors and their consultants and coordination for SRC’s marketing activities. With an undergraduate degree earned in China and a graduate degree earned in the United States, Ms. Zhang is fully bilingual in Mandarin Chinese and English and has deep experience with both Chinese and U.S. financial systems and business cultures.
John Pratt, Esq. [Kurzban, Kurzban, Tetzeli & Pratt]
Mr. Pratt is renowned for his expertise in all areas of immigration and nationality law, including employment-and investment-based immigrant and nonimmigrant matters and federal court litigation. Mr. Pratt has appeared numerous times on local, national and international television as a commentator analyzing immigration and nationality law matters. He is a frequent speaker as a subject matter expert at national and local conferences. In addition, he was selected for inclusion in Who’s Who in American Law, Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the World. He has also been selected as one of the overall top attorneys in Immigration and Nationality law by the publication Best Lawyers in America and is AV Rated by Martindale-Hubbell, which indicates the highest level of legal ability and ethics.
Robert Divine, Esq. [Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC]
Mr. Divine has extensive experience serving clients throughout the world in the arrangement of all types of business-based temporary and permanent immigration status. He provides masterful representation of many business developers in creating and managing EB-5 Regional Centers. He is the elected Vice President of the national industry association of EB-5 Regional Centers: Invest in the USA (IIUSA). He also represents individual investors as well as project developers and supplies key expertise to attorneys and licensed securities brokers engaged with securities law compliance issues in private placement offerings to investors, to economists identifying “targeted employment areas” and projecting indirect job creation, and to attorneys obtaining U.S. Government (OFAC) licenses in order to serve investors from restricted countries.
Cherylle C. Corpuz, Esq. [SRC’s Of Counsel]
Cherylle C. Corpuz has over 30 years of dedicated immigration law experience. Ms. Corpuz has been with SRC since its early stages and continues to provide valuable guidance and oversight for our immigrant investors’ visa process. Ms. Corpuz supplies an extra layer of safety by reviewing each investor’s petition before it is filed at USCIS. Ms. Corpuz has a diversity of experience from managing a refugee resettlement agency to managing the immigration practice of an Am Law 100 firm. In addition to serving in various leadership roles for the Philadelphia chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Ms. Corpuz was the lead instructor for the inaugural immigration law clinic at the legacy Temple University School of Law. Ms. Corpuz is also an experienced federal court litigator with precedent decisions in the Courts of Appeal for the Third and Fourth Circuits.
Vermilion Consulting [SRC’s Economist]
The lead economist of Vermilion Consulting is Kimberly R. Atteberry. Ms. Atteberry served as Chief of the Investment & Economic Analysis Division for the Department of Homeland Security from 2009 to 2011. Vermilion Consulting helps varied organizations in the public and private sectors leverage the benefits of the federally-mandated Immigrant Investor Program (EB-5). Vermilion provides expert advice on project feasibility, EB-5 compliant structures, job creation methodology, and targeted employment area (TEA) analysis. Her interests and skills include putting the right people and organizations in touch with each other, finding novel solutions to difficult issues, and working within a team framework to address problems.
**The listed “Trusted Partners” do not recommend or endorse any investment opportunity, do not guarantee USCIS approval of any filing, and encourage all prospective investors to consult their own business and legal advisors in evaluating any investment.