In 2004, Jui-Chen Lin, a citizen of China, entered into an agreement with Robert Chiu and Charles Cobb, citizens of the United States, to form an LLC to acquire and operate a fast-food restaurant in California. Lin agreed to contribute \($1\) million for five years in exchange for a 30 percent ownership stake in the LLC. The agreement stipulated that Chiu and Cobb would “buy back” the ownership stake for \($1\) million at the end of the five-year term and pay Lin an additional \($80,000.\) Chiu and Cobb would retain all the revenue derived from the restaurant and hold Lin harmless for any of the LLC’s debts. Lin had allegedly sought out and signed the agreement so he could qualify as an “alien entrepreneur,” which, under federal immigration law, would allow him to apply for permanent residency in the United States.

Chiu and Cobb were unable to pay back the \($1\) million. Lin extended the payment deadline, and Chiu was able to pay \($298,000\) to Lin.

However, \($702,000\) remained unpaid. In 2014, Lin sued Chiu and Cobb to recover the remaining funds. Chiu claimed that the agreement was void on the grounds that it was illegal. According to Chiu, the \($1\) million Lin provided was a loan, not an investment, and therefore did not meet the requirements of alien entrepreneurship. Chiu alleged that Lin used the agreement to commit a fraud upon immigration authorities by not disclosing the full agreement when applying for alien entrepreneur status. Do Lin’s allegedly fraudulent purposes make the agreement unenforceable?