Federal prosecutors said Wednesday they disrupted one of the biggest marriage fraud rings in U.S. history that orchestrated more than a thousand bogus unions over a decade in the hopes of getting green cards.
Officials said the ring earned tens of millions of dollars, charging up to $100,000 to arrange sham marriages for Chinese citizens and paying up to $30,000 for Americans willing to marry them.
Eleven people — 10 of them naturalized citizens and the other a legal permanent resident — were named in the newly unsealed indictment.
Authorities described the remarkable steps the outfit went to, including fabricating photos to try to make it look like a wedding ceremony was held, opening joint accounts for the so-called couples and purchasing life insurance.
The goal, prosecutors said, was to create a false history to fool immigration authorities.
The outfit would also coach its customers on how to survive the scrutiny from Homeland Security officials.
It helped arrange prenuptial agreements that, in some cases, gave away the sham nature of the unions.
In one instance, the prenuptial agreement provided that “except in the name of husband and wife, both parties live independently and must not interfere with each other.”
When one of the U.S. citizens started demanding closer ties to her husband, such as money to buy food, one of the organizers ordered that she be set straight.
“You remind her that this is a business transaction, and he is not her real husband,” warned Amy Cheng, the lead defendant in the case.
U.S. citizens were paid in installments, with the first $10,000 payment coming after the marriage and initial green card application, another $15,000 when a conditional green card arrived, and a final $5,000 payment when the migrant was granted full lawful permanent status.
The outfit arranged for divorces once the point of the scam — a full green card — was in hand.
“These schemes have real costs. They rob our country of the ability to know who should be, and who should not be, allowed into America,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in unveiling the indictment.
Officials said the case arose from a different probe that found a “single communication” suggested something shady was going on with a marriage.
As investigators unraveled it, they discovered a mammoth fraud ring that they said began at least by 2016 and was still running as late as last month.
“We just brought it down,” Mr. Blanche said.
The 11 people charged held different roles in the organization.
Some were recruiters, seeking Americans willing to engage in the bogus marriages.
Others handled the organizing side, arranging lawyers, tax preparers and officiants to perform ceremonies.
Mr. Blanche said authorities may pursue some of those who engaged in sham marriages to revoke immigration status, and some could face criminal charges if their role merits it.
Experts have identified sham marriages as a major source of fraud in immigration.
The law requires marriages to be bona fide and makes it unlawful to marry specifically to gain immigration benefits.
But it’s still a popular ploy because it’s considered a relatively easy way to earn a more fulsome status here in the U.S., particularly for those who are here on short-term legal visas.
Ms. Cheng, 72, is accused of being part of the operation from the start in 2016.
Four others were charged with being facilitators.
Another four were charged with being recruiters. The recruiters could earn up to $5,000 for each American they convinced to take part in a bogus marriage.
Jing Yan Ye, 43, was charged with serving as an assistant for the scam, operating out of a driving school in Brooklyn that was the headquarters for the fraudsters.
Still others were charged with officiating over the sham ceremonies that were used to justify the immigration petitions.
The indictment said the outfit had particular luck recruiting soldiers from an Army base in Kentucky to agree to sham marriages with Chinese citizens.
A photo included in the indictment showed a man in uniform with his arm around a woman in a white dress. Prosecutors said it was an image of a “shame marriage ceremony” held last year.
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