“The individuals who were arrested today allegedly orchestrated elaborate schemes to illegally obtain citizenship for foreign nationals through sham marriages.”
The Trump administration announced Wednesday that federal authorities have dismantled what prosecutors described as one of the largest marriage fraud schemes ever charged in the United States, accusing 11 people of operating an international network responsible for more than 1,000 sham marriages, primarily involving Chinese nationals seeking Green Cards.
A two-count federal indictment alleges the multimillion-dollar operation ran from at least 2016 through July 2026, with foreign nationals paying facilitators as much as $100,000 per fraudulent marriage for help obtaining lawful permanent resident status in the United States. The network is believed to have collected tens of millions of dollars over the course of the alleged conspiracy.
“This Department of Justice is rooting out fraud everywhere — including in our immigration system,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said. “The individuals who were arrested today allegedly orchestrated elaborate schemes to illegally obtain citizenship for foreign nationals through sham marriages. Schemes like this are a deliberate affront to the United States and our laws and will not be tolerated under the Trump Administration.”
The Republican National Committee pointed to the arrests as an example of the Trump administration's broader immigration enforcement efforts, saying Republicans were targeting fraud and abuse of the immigration system.
According to prosecutors, the organization was based primarily in New York City but arranged marriages throughout the United States and overseas, including in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Vanuatu, and China.
US Attorney Jamie McDonald for the Southern District of New York called the operation a “nationwide and international, multimillion-dollar marriage fraud scheme.”
“Today's arrests have dismantled a central component of one of the largest marriage fraud schemes charged in United States history,” McDonald said.
The alleged operation functioned as an organized business, with different participants responsible for finding foreign customers, recruiting American citizens willing to enter fake marriages, preparing immigration paperwork and coordinating fraudulent Green Card applications.
Participating Americans were allegedly paid as much as $30,000, generally through installments tied to milestones in the immigration process, while recruiters could earn commissions of up to approximately $5,000 for each US citizen they brought into the scheme. In total, prosecutors say hundreds of Americans were recruited.
The alleged fraud extended well beyond simply signing marriage documents. According to the indictment, some supposed couples met for the first time immediately before obtaining their marriage licenses. Participants then staged wedding ceremonies, banquets and photographs intended to convince immigration authorities that the marriages were legitimate. After the ceremonies, the network allegedly created an extensive paper trail to support the fake relationships, including joint financial and utility accounts, joint tax returns and insurance policies.
When USCIS interviews were required, prosecutors say defendants coached participants on how to conceal the true nature of their relationships and give false answers to immigration officers. “As alleged, this decade-long scheme turned marriage fraud into an international business model arranging countless sham marriages and causing hundreds of fraudulent Green Card applications to be submitted to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services,” said Acting HSI Executive Associate Director John Condon.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow characterized the alleged fraud as a national security concern. “Anyone willing to lie, cheat or steal their way to legal immigration status is a direct threat to America's national security,” Edlow said. “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is aggressively pursuing marriage fraud schemes and the criminal organizations and ringleaders who profit from them.”
Authorities identified the defendants as Amy Cheng, also known as “Amy Zhou,” 72; Xiao Mei Chan, also known as “Carmen,” 64; Christine Lu, also known as “Lily,” 52; Jing Yan Ye, also known as “Serene,” 43; Xiao Yan Chen, also known as “Anna,” 48; Gang Zheng, also known as “Michael” and “Mike,” 61; Anthony Cheng, 47; Michelle Duenas, 35; Angela Duenas, 26; Sigrid Cetino, 32; and Erika Johnson, 43. All are New York residents.
Federal agents also executed search warrants at several locations in New York, including in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and Flushing, Queens, as the defendants were arrested.
Each defendant has been charged with conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and immigration fraud, carrying a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and conspiracy to encourage the unlawful residence of aliens in the United States, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.
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