Nearly 100 Indicted, 50 In Custody After Ice Uncovers Large-Scale Marriage Fraud Scheme

Authorities indicted 96 people and arrested 50 for a marriage fraud operation allegedly taking place in Vietnam and Houston.

A months-long Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) probe uncovered a criminal operation that enabled numerous foreign nationals to fraudulently obtain legal immigration status in the U.S., according to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement press release Monday.

Under the alleged terms of conspiracy, immigrant beneficiaries would pay around $50,000 to $70,000 to get married and score permanent resident status. The marriages were complete shams, according to the April indictment.

The spouses typically met only briefly before they obtained their marriage licenses and did not live together after becoming a “married” couple. The criminal operation behind the marriages would go so far as to produce fake wedding albums and falsified tax, utility and employment information — all in an effort to convince USCIS to approve the forms.

Breaking: Kimberly Guilfoyle ‘Forever Grateful’ to Trump as She Resigns

Trump-linked super PAC pulls funding from 2 House Republicans as GOP fights to keep majority

Isaias aftermath brings arrests after suspects allegedly trick woman into letting them in car, store looted

911 operators questioned whether Christa Pike failed execution call was prank, audio reveals

On Same Day as Omar Raid, Trump Issues Dire Warning to Midterm Voters: Don’t Let Your State Get ‘Ransacked and Destroyed’ Like Minnesota

Trump asks Kimberly Guilfoyle to resign as Greece ambassador, White House confirms

Alleged Philadelphia Cop Killer Admits He Targeted White Officers – Would Not Have Shot Black Cops

Trump rally crowd chants ‘deport’ as president rips Ilhan Omar after federal raid

Trump vanishes from GOP senator’s campaign website as poll numbers plunge weeks before election

AI Is Replacing Doctors Already: Utah Just Let an AI Write a Medical Prescription for the First Time

Biden Admin Used Threats to Silence Parents from Speaking Out Against Woke Policies, Teaching: DOJ Report

Ilhan Omar immigration history: Scrutiny surrounds family’s refugee claims

Republicans eye Wes Moore’s redistricting measure to boost GOP in blue Maryland

Kimberly Guilfoyle faces potential Senate probe over bombshell $100K allegation

Booker ‘wowed’ by GOP challenger’s blunt message to Trump

“These arrests mark the culmination of a comprehensive yearlong multi-agency investigation into one of the largest alleged marriage fraud conspiracies ever documented in the Houston area,” Special HSI Agent in Charge Mark Dawson said in a Monday statement. “By working together with our partners from various federal law enforcement agencies, we have sent a resounding message that we are united in our effort to disrupt and dismantle criminal organizations that seek to circumvent U.S. law by fraudulent means.”

The indictment alleges Ashley Yen Nguyen, 53, was the leader of the criminal scheme and had operatives working throughout Texas and Vietnam.

People involved in the conspiracy allegedly recruited U.S. citizens to act as marriage petitioners, who would then receive a cut of the proceeds from the beneficiary spouses. Several people who were recruited as petitioners eventually became recruiters themselves.

Marriage fraud or conspiracy to commit marriage fraud carries a sentence of up to five years in prison. The other charges — including mail fraud, conspiracy to commit mail fraud and tampering with a witness, informant or victim — all carry the possibility of 20 years in federal prison. A federal grand jury returned the indictment on April 30.