Sham Marriages: Gov. Charges 11 People In Green Card Scheme

The Department of Justice has charged nearly a dozen people with participating in a multimillion-dollar scheme. In this scheme, hundreds of Chinese nationals fraudulently obtained green cards through sham marriages to U.S. citizens, officials said Wednesday.

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How Much Money Was Earned During The Scheme?

American citizens were paid as much as $30,000 to enter into bogus marriages with immigrants. The immigrants sought lawful permanent resident status as part of the scheme orchestrated from New York, according to court papers. The defendants charged up to $100,000 per green card. Ultimately, they brought in tens of millions of dollars over the course of the decade-long scheme, according to officials.

“This scheme was not a quick, fly-by-night operation but rather a yearslong, multibillion dollar cottage industry to criminally assist people who would not, or legally could not, otherwise become citizens of the United States,” Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters.

Details About The Scheme

Authorities say they believe the group arranged more than 1,000 sham weddings. This makes the scheme one of the largest marriage fraud prosecutions in U.S. history. After recruiting U.S. citizens, the defendants would arrange fake weddings and in some cases stage photos of families at places such as restaurants afterward to make them look legitimate, according to officials. The defendants would then help the immigrants through the lawful permanent status application process.

11 People Charged For The Sham Marriages

The charges come against the backdrop of the Trump administration’s restrictions on both legal and illegal immigration that have sought to crack down on who is able to enter the country or become a citizen.

“These schemes have real cost. They rob our country of its ability to know who should be and who should not be allowed in America,” Blanche said.

The 11 defendants, including people accused of officiating the sham weddings, are charged in an indictment filed in New York. It was not immediately clear Wednesday whether they had lawyers to speak on their behalf.