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.
And 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.”
“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.
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