{"id":220460,"date":"2026-08-13T15:25:27","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T15:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/11-defendants-charged-in-dismantling-of-decade-long-nationwide-marriage-fraud-scheme-department-of-justice-gov\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T15:25:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T15:25:27","slug":"11-defendants-charged-in-dismantling-of-decade-long-nationwide-marriage-fraud-scheme-department-of-justice-gov","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/11-defendants-charged-in-dismantling-of-decade-long-nationwide-marriage-fraud-scheme-department-of-justice-gov\/","title":{"rendered":"11 Defendants Charged in Dismantling of Decade-Long Nationwide Marriage Fraud Scheme – Department of Justice (.gov)"},"content":{"rendered":"

An official website of the United States government
Here’s how you know
Official websites use .gov<\/strong>
A .gov<\/strong> website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS<\/strong>
A lock<\/strong> ( Lock<\/title> Locked padlock<\/desc> <\/svg> <\/span> ) or https:\/\/<\/strong> means you\u2019ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Archived News<\/strong><\/a>
A two-count indictment was unsealed today charging 11 individuals with conspiring, over the course of more than a decade, to orchestrate more than 1,000 sham marriages to fraudulently obtain immigration status for foreign nationals, primarily citizens of the People\u2019s Republic of China. Some individuals paid up to $100,000 per sham marriage, according to the indictment.
\u201cThis Department of Justice is rooting out fraud everywhere \u2014 including in our immigration system,\u201d said Attorney General Todd Blanche. \u201cThe individuals who were arrested today allegedly orchestrated elaborate schemes to illegally obtain citizenship for foreign nationals through sham marriages. Schemes like this are a deliberate affront to the United States and our laws and will not be tolerated under the Trump Administration.\u201d
\u201cThe defendants and their co-conspirators allegedly operated a nationwide and international, multimillion-dollar marriage fraud scheme, using participants to abuse United States immigration laws for their own profit,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald for the Southern District of New York. \u201cToday\u2019s arrests have dismantled a central component of one of the largest marriage fraud schemes charged in United States history.  As this prosecution shows, we and our law enforcement partners will relentlessly pursue those seeking to corrupt and exploit our nation\u2019s lawful immigration system.\u201d
\u201cAnyone willing to lie, cheat or steal their way to legal immigration status is a direct threat to America’s national security,\u201d said Director Joseph B. Edlow of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). \u201cU.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is aggressively pursuing marriage fraud schemes and the criminal organizations and ringleaders who profit from them. USCIS will continue to expose fraud, defend the rule of law, and ensure immigration status is reserved for those who truly qualify.\u201d
\u201cAs alleged, this decade-long scheme turned marriage fraud into an international business model arranging countless sham marriages and causing hundreds of fraudulent Green Card applications to be submitted to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services,\u201d said Acting Executive Associate Director John Condon of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). \u201cThrough the Homeland Security Task Force, HSI and our partners will continue to dismantle criminal networks that undermine the rule of law, exploit federal laws, and profit from fraud.\u201d
The defendants were arrested this morning and are expected to be arraigned today. The defendants are:
According to the indictment, from at least 2016 through July 2026, the defendants operated a nationwide and international marriage fraud network that arranged sham marriages between foreign nationals \u2014 primarily citizens of the People\u2019s Republic of China \u2014 and United States citizens. Although based principally in New York City, the network allegedly arranged sham marriages throughout the United States and overseas including in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Vanuatu, and China. 
The network included facilitators who oversaw the scheme and identified foreign-national customers; recruiters who found willing United States citizens and helped ensure their continued participation; and assistants who prepared immigration paperwork and coordinated the submission of fraudulent lawful permanent residency (Green Card) applications to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The scheme also relied on marriage officiants, attorneys, tax preparers, insurance providers, and other service providers.  
Foreign nationals paid facilitators as much as approximately $100,000 for a sham marriage and assistance obtaining lawful permanent resident status. Facilitators, in turn, allegedly paid participating U.S. citizens up to about $30,000 \u2014 generally in installments tied to milestones in the Green Card application process \u2014 and paid recruiters commissions of as much as approximately $5,000 for each citizen recruited. In total, the defendants and their co-conspirators recruited hundreds of U.S. citizens to enter into sham marriages.
The defendants executed the fraud by pairing foreign nationals with U.S. citizens. The individuals would often meet for the first time immediately before obtaining a marriage license, arranging sham wedding ceremonies, and staging photographs designed to make those marriages appear legitimate. Some examples are below, including a photograph of a sham marriage that took place in China:
After the ceremonies, scheme participants manufactured evidence to make the marriages appear genuine, including by staging additional photographs, opening joint financial and utility accounts, filing joint tax returns, and obtaining insurance policies. The defendants and their co-conspirators then prepared and submitted Green Card applications containing materially false statements and, when interviews with USCIS were required, coached the marriage participants on how to conceal the true nature of their relationships and provide false answers to immigration officers. 
The defendants caused at least hundreds of fraudulent Green Card applications and supporting documents to be submitted to USCIS. Based on the scale and duration of the scheme, the defendants\u2019 network is believed to have collected tens of millions of dollars from foreign nationals seeking lawful permanent resident status.
At the time the defendants were arrested, law enforcement executed premises search warrants at multiple locations in New York including Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and Flushing, Queens.
The defendants have each been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and immigration fraud, which, if convicted, carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. The defendants have also each been charged with one count of conspiracy to encourage the unlawful residence of aliens in the United States, which, if convicted, carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
HSI, Hudson Valley; the FBI, Safe Streets Task Force; the USCIS\u2019s Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate; the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division; and the Westchester County District Attorney\u2019s Office are investigating this case. 
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jake Sidransky and Reyhan Watson for the Southern District of New York are prosecuting the case.
An indictment merely contains accusations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.<\/em>
As part of a Homeland Security Task Force case, a federal grand jury in Del Rio, Texas, returned an indictment this week charging 11 defendants for their alleged involvement in…
Office of Public Affairs<\/strong>
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20530
Office of Public Affairs Direct Line
202-514-2007
Department of Justice Main Switchboard
202-514-2000
Signup for Email Updates<\/a>
Social Media<\/a>
\"U.S.
Have a question about Government Services?<\/strong><\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An official website of the United States governmentHere’s how you know Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock Locked padlock ) or https:\/\/ means you\u2019ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":220461,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-220460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}