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.

Netflix Bloodbath Continues – Company Fires Film Chief

Report: Posts from Talarico’s Adoptive Dad Unearthed – Show ‘Best Man’ Dem Knows Joked About Christ and Degenerate Different Way to Kill Him

Media Learns Would-Be Shooter Is Trans, Immediately Starts Using Biological Pronouns to Hide Trans ID, Blaming Men Instead

Repeat offender accused of shooting National Guard member has lengthy history with the law, records show

Former OJ Simpson attorney, longtime friend both support possibility of accomplice in 1994 murders

Trump renews push to rename New Mexico ‘New America,’ touts higher home values and incomes

Eagles QB Jalen Hurts Pulled for Season, Doctors Find Multiple Blood Clots in His Lungs

Smithsonian screening dispute puts museum’s commitment to diverse views on trial: ‘Right kind of Black?’

Reporter’s Notebook: Senate sneaks in one last political play before voters have their say

France’s massive intel failure sparks resignation offers amid days of rioting

Federal voter fraud arrests intensify in California days after DOJ warning

Rick Jackson to skip Trump campaign rally in Georgia

Court Set to Deliver Big Win to 70 Churches Seeking to Leave United Methodist Denomination

How a foreign government helped accused Saudi spy’s family flee US after OpenAI bug scandal

Violent far-left riots in France are ‘chilling warning’ for Americans at home, Mike Johnson says

“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.