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.

Trump Announces Plan to Help Ranchers Going Through Beef Market ‘Hell’

Top election schemes roiling key midterm races as both parties accuse rivals of trickery

Watch: Markwayne Mullin Goes Off on Reporter Who Tried to Downplay the Danger of Illegal Alien Truckers

Democrats’ generational battle erupts as 80-year-old senator faces younger challenger

Georgia cop kills beloved pet donkey in his own pasture as heartbroken owner demands justice: ‘We miss him’

Lindsay Clancy’s future could rest with ‘prosecution doctors’ as case echoes infamous Maine killings: expert

Get right out of town

WATCH: Maryland carjacking suspect plows toward cops as they open fire

Suspected DUI driver leads cops on wild chase before dramatic takedown on popular California beach

Mamdani Locked in Unexpected War with NY Teachers Union Over Big Bonuses

Tensions erupt in House hearing as GOP advances anti-socialism resolution while Dems rage: ‘Silly season’

Who pays for US power boom? Blue, red states offer starkly different ways to lower utility bills amid AI surge

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll submits resignation to Trump

Fact check: Trump claims no autism cases among unvaccinated Amish children

Breaking: SCOTUS Gives Trump’s Ballroom Construction the Green Light

“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.