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.

Thomas Paine Set America Afire with ‘Common Sense’ 250 Years Ago: Pamphlet Made Case for Revolutionary War

USDA immediately suspends all federal funding to Minnesota amid fraud investigation

‘Jeopardy!’ Host Ken Jennings Wants Trump Administration Jailed, Vows to Vote for Candidate Who Will ‘Prosecute’

Fox News Politics Newsletter: AOC accuses Vance of believing ‘American people should be assassinated’

Tim Walz Fumes About ‘Accountability’ in Shooting Death of Renee Good – He Should Start by Looking in a Mirror

New top Democrat on House CCP committee took cash from China-linked donors

DC pipe bomb defendant pleads not guilty to federal charges

Watch: Top Chicago Cop Blasts Dem, Media Narrative on Renee Good Shooting, Comes to Defense of ICE Agents Being Attacked with Cars

Fox News True Crime Newsletter: Ohio dentist murders, Kohberger sister’s warning, ‘Torso Killer’ confession

Trump pauses oil exec summit to peek at White House ballroom’s progress

Johnson meets with Muslim man who confronted, disarmed Bondi Beach attacker

Iranian officials have few options if they flee an overthrown regime

WATCH: Bodycam for Ohio dentist murders shows police went to wrong home before couple was found dead

Walz Rages That ICE Won’t Share Shooting Evidence With Sanctuary City Minneapolis – Which Outright Refuses to Cooperate With ICE

House Republicans defend ICE agent in fatal shooting, say use of force was justified

“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.