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.

Fox News Hires Former Top Andrew Cuomo Aide Who Helped Run Major Cover-Up

Woman on Death Row for Satanic Murder Says She Feels ‘a Kinship’ with Lindsay Clancy

Boeing lands $20B-plus Navy deal for sixth-generation fighter to deliver ‘absolute air superiority’

‘F— her’: Jasmine Crockett torched by ex-Dem colleague over who she left off endorsement list

Woke, Anti-Trump Classic Rocker Todd Rundgren Nukes Taylor Swift: ‘Apotheosis of Mediocrity’

Trump Sets the Record Straight After ‘Hoax’ Report on What He Offered Iran

Supreme Court takes up fight over Trump’s third-country illegal alien deportation policy

FBI’s Andrew Bailey blasts exit ‘lies’ as he reveals real reason he’s leaving agency

‘American Idol’ alum Caleb Flynn convicted of murdering his wife

Newly Uncovered Docs Blow Up Jack Smith’s Story About How His Investigation Into Trump Began

Breaking: Jack Smith Admits to Secretly Gathering Banking Info of Thousands of Trump Donors

Man found dead on tracks at Brooklyn subway station after his bag reportedly gets stuck in closing doors

Office of Personnel Management uncovers $500M in fraud and waste in federal health benefits programs

Soros nephew divulges how family’s power helped bankroll El-Sayed’s education during secretive fundraiser

Rivals skeptical as Netanyahu warns of ‘attack’ against Israel before Oct. 27 election

“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.