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.

Woman Tries Getting Birth Certificate, SS Card, and Marriage License to See if Dems Are Honest – Says She Caught Them Lying Through Their Teeth

Trump Seethes After France Blocks American Military Planes: ‘The USA Will Remember’

Trump’s proposed presidential library revealed as towering Miami skyscraper in striking new video

Scoop: House Speaker Mike Johnson’s allies unleash $10M campaign to spotlight Trump tax cuts

Florida county’s Democratic Party chair accused of hitting man in head with bullhorn at ‘No Kings’ protest

Trump reveals first look at presidential library in Miami

Teacher of the Year finalist gets 14 years for sexual relationship with student she kept contacting

Top Ten King-Like Things Barack Obama Did That Democrats Had No Problem With

Fugitive illegal alien convict on the run after attempting to strike ICE officer with vehicle: DHS

Charlie Kirk Memorial Bill Vetoed by Swing-State Dem Governor Who Said It Didn’t ‘Bring People Together’

DHS slams California ‘sanctuary’ county after mom allegedly murdered by 2 Honduran nationals

Jayapal floats reparations for illegal immigrants impacted by Trump crackdown, demands prosecutions

Opinion: Is It Just Me, or Is the World Finally Starting to Feel Normal Again?

Pam Bondi Announces the DOJ Is Suing Tim Walz’s Minnesota

Woman dies after falling from 60-foot cliff along popular Smoky Mountains trail

“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.