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.

Mexican Consulates Worry That Trump Admin Review Could Lead To Closure

California 22nd Congressional district primary results: Rep. David Valadao advances to runoff

Hilton, Becerra, in the lead with votes still being counted in battle for California governor

California 11th district primary results: Wiener advances to general election to succeed Pelosi

South Dakota governors race remains up in the air as GOP contest goes to runoff

Supreme Court allows Alabama GOP-backed congressional map for midterms

Trump-endorsed Feenstra concedes to MAHA-backed Lahn in GOP governor primary upset

DOJ expands indictment against SPLC, alleging $4M secretly funneled to KKK and extremist groups

FBI charges 35 in West Virginia drug and firearms operation, launches nationwide summer crime initiative

Missing GOP congressman reveals he’s ‘more energized than ever’ to return to Washington

Bomb threat standoff at Bakersfield Chase Bank continues as negotiators work to release hostages

WATCH: Dem senators excuse Platner’s conduct at crisis huddle with embattled Maine candidate

Trump-backed candidate ‘confident’ Republicans will have great night in California: ‘Very excited’

Jill Biden Claims Joe Would Have Beaten Trump If Democrats Hadn’t Forced Him Out

Trump Signs Modified AI Executive Order Behind Closed Doors

“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.