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.

Newsom’s ‘Golden State Start’ promises 400 free diapers per baby as California grapples with budget woes

U.S. military kills two alleged narco-terrorists in lethal strike on drug vessel in Eastern Pacific

Reckoning: Islamic Group with Terror Ties Set to Be Investigated by GOP

Trump Preparing to Fire FDA Commissioner Amid Nicotine Dispute and Pro-Life Outcry: Report

Video shows ICE officers arrest alleged MS-13 gang member described as ‘known suspected terrorist’ in Florida

Green Politician Wants to Limit Nursing Home Residents to 2.8 Oz of Meat per Week Due to Climate Change – That’s Less Than 1 Big Mac … Per Week

Obama Slammed for ‘Disgusting’ Decision to Speak at Event Organized by Man with Troubling Past

Utah Supreme Court justice resigns amid probe into alleged relationship with redistricting attorney

Fox News Campus Radicals Newsletter: Men admitted to all-women’s school, bizarre campus confrontation

James Comey criminal trial over ’86 47′ post set for July 15

Georgia mayor fires entire police department after officers complain about his wife in dispute

Virginia Democrat who helped lead state’s redistricting push also played part in killing it

Declassified Apollo mission UFO files challenge long-running Moon landing conspiracy theories

Human Remains Found Near Guthrie Home Create New Mystery, Fail to Solve Current One

Can’t Make It Up: Islamic Activist Behind ‘Muslims Only’ Waterpark Day Also Runs ‘Learing’ Center of Her Very Own

“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.