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.

Inside Joe Kent’s abrupt fall as GOP backlash grows over antisemitism accusations, FBI probe

Pentagon seeks at least $200B from Congress for Iran war

Florida deputies mock rowdy spring breakers with NCAA-style scoreboard as arrests surge

Suspect accused of killing NYPD’s Jonathan Diller ‘looks like he’s smiling’ in bodycam video: testimony

Iran’s New Supreme Leader ‘Misfunctioning’: Report

WATCH: Sen. Mullin Tears up During Confirmation Hearing While Sharing What Trump Told His Son About Love After He Experienced a Traumatic Brain Injury

Trump threatens key Iranian gas field after Israeli strike

EXCLUSIVE: House Republicans to hold hearing on DHS shutdown risks amid travel surge

Chinese surrogacy boom in America raises novel birthright citizenship questions

Talarico claims to oppose big businesses’ influence while benefiting from it

‘Tell me to my face’: Top moments in Mullin’s heated confirmation hearing to be Trump’s next DHS chief

Israel’s relentless Iran regime change campaign complicates US hopes of negotiating

NYPD officer assigned to Mayor Mamdani’s security suspended after off-duty shooting

Trump continues to push for release of Tina Peters as Colorado governor weighs clemency

Colorado school staffer accused of sexually abusing 13-year-old student, now on the run

“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.