{"id":2643871,"date":"2026-08-12T19:51:01","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T23:51:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/doj-busts-massive-international-sham-marriage-scheme-1000-weddings-to-fraudulently-obtain-immigration-status\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T19:56:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T23:56:24","slug":"doj-busts-massive-international-sham-marriage-scheme-1000-weddings-to-fraudulently-obtain-immigration-status","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/doj-busts-massive-international-sham-marriage-scheme-1000-weddings-to-fraudulently-obtain-immigration-status\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ Busts Massive International Sham Marriage Scheme, 1,000 Weddings to &#8216;Fraudulently Obtain Immigration Status&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdoj-busts-massive-international-sham-marriage-scheme-1000-weddings-to-fraudulently-obtain-immigration-status%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2643871&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article reports that the Department of Justice uncovered a decade-long, large-scale marriage fraud scheme involving over 1,000 sham marriages primarily targeting foreign nationals, mostly Chinese citizens, to fraudulently obtain U.S. green cards. Eleven people have been charged wiht conspiracy to commit marriage and immigration fraud, with some participating U.S.citizens earning up to $30,000 per fake marriage.The scheme operated across multiple states and even internationally, involving facilitators, recruiters, attorneys, and other service providers. After fake marriages were arranged, the couples often divorced shortly thereafter. Authorities emphasize that such <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/multiple-people-arrested-after-feds-uncover-massive-immigration-fraud-scheme-involving-hundreds-in-minnesota\/\" title=\"Multiple People Arrested After Feds Uncover Massive ... ... Involving Hundreds in Minnesota\">fraud threatens national security<\/a> and undermine immigration laws. the DOJ continues to evaluate potential legal actions against those who obtained green cards through this scheme.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>What appeared to be a trip to the altar was in fact a trip to the immigration office to snag a green card, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>The DOJ said it busted 11 people it claims ran a fake marriage racket for more than 10 years that produced more than 1,000 sham marriages and substantial profit for the operators of the fraud, according to a Department of Justice <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/11-defendants-charged-dismantling-decade-long-nationwide-marriage-fraud-scheme\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news release<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The indictment said those charged \u201coperated a nationwide and international marriage fraud network that arranged sham marriages between foreign nationals \u2014 primarily citizens of the People\u2019s Republic of China \u2014 and United States citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis scheme was not a quick fly-by-night operation, but rather a years-long, multimillion-dollar cottage industry to criminally assist people who would not, or legally could not, otherwise become citizens of the United States,\u201d Attorney General Todd Blanche said, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/feds-bust-largest-marriage-fraud-schemes-us-history-involving-1000-chinese-sham-unions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fox News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter the married couples would visit a local office affiliated with the scheme, sign forms for submission to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, learn about the USCIS interview process to apply for a green card, they would then execute prenuptial agreements, which, not surprisingly \u2014 given the allegation these were sham marriages \u2014 waived their rights to  in the other\u2019s estate upon death,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe believe this network took in tens of millions of dollars over its decade-long operation, making it one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/doj-charges-11-in-alleged-decadelong-sham-marriage-scheme\/\" title=\"... charges 11 in alleged decadelong sham marriage ...\">largest marriage fraud prosecutions<\/a> in U.S. history,\u201d Jamie McDonald, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">McDonald said officials are still deciding whether to go after the green cards of those who got them through the scheme.<\/p>\n<p>He noted that the marriages did not last long.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnce a foreign national obtained a green card, they arranged for a divorce,\u201d McDonald said, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/abc7ny.com\/post\/fbi-arrests-11-people-ny-sweeping-international-marriage-scam-indictment\/19669458\/\">WABC-TV<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnyone willing to lie, cheat or steal their way to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dhs-worried-about-causing-undue-stress-to-illegal-immigrants-deletes-deportation-warning\/\" title=\"DHS Worried About Causing \u2018Undue Stress\u2019 To Illegal Immigrants, Deletes Deportation Warning\">legal immigration status<\/a> is a direct threat to America\u2019s national security,\u201d Director Joseph Edlow of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said, according to the DOJ release.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSchemes like this are a deliberate affront to the United States and our laws and will not be tolerated under the Trump Administration,\u201d Blanche said.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">\ud83d\udea8<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AGToddBlanche?\">@AGToddBlanche<\/a> announces the unsealing of an indictment charging 11 defendants with conspiring (over the course of more than a decade) to orchestrate more than 1,000 sham marriages to fraudulently obtain immigration status for foreign nationals, primarily citizens of China. \u2b07\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/LxidrYiNmu\">pic.twitter.com\/LxidrYiNmu<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheJusticeDept\/status\/2087587032205820242?\">August 12, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The individuals arrested included Amy Cheng, also known as \u201cAmy Zhou,\u201d 72, of Brooklyn; Xiao Mei Chan, also known as \u201cCarmen,\u201d 64, of Queens; Christine Lu, also known as \u201cLily,\u201d 52, of Queens; Jing Yan Ye, also known as \u201cSerene,\u201d 43, of Staten Island; Xiao Yan Chen, also known as \u201cAnna,\u201d 48, of Brooklyn; Gang Zheng, also known as \u201cMichael\u201d and \u201cMike,\u201d 61, of Queens; Anthony Cheng, 47, of Staten Island; Michelle Duenas, 35, of Staten Island; Angela Duenas, 26, of Staten Island; Sigrid Cetino, 32, of Peekskill, New York; and Erika Johnson, 43, of Ossining, New York.<\/p>\n<p>The defendants have each been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and immigration fraud and one count of conspiracy to encourage the unlawful residence of aliens in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>The scheme took root in 2016. Although focused on the New York City area, it arranged sham marriages in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Vanuatu, and China.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe network included facilitators who oversaw the scheme and identified foreign-national customers; recruiters who found willing United States citizens and helped ensure their continued participation; and assistants who prepared immigration paperwork and coordinated the submission of fraudulent lawful permanent residency (Green Card) applications to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The scheme also relied on marriage officiants, attorneys, tax preparers, insurance providers, and other service providers,\u201d the release said.<\/p>\n<p>U.S. citizens who participated in the scheme could make up to $30,000.<\/p>\n<p>The foreign nationals and U.S. citizens would meet, get a marriage license, have a ceremony complete with photos, and build upon that fakery by opening joint accounts and filing joint tax returns to make the marriages appear legitimate.<\/p>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #171717; display: flex;font-size: 16px;font-weight: 600;line-height: 1.5;margin: 24px 0;padding: 18px 20px 18px 30px;text-align: left;\">\n<div style=\"align-self: stretch;border-left: 3px solid #171717;flex-shrink: 0;padding-left: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<p><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/\">Choose The Western Journal as your preferred source on Google and never miss reporting that defends truth, protects freedom, and advances Western civilization<\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey == typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts = { \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs = [ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i = 0; i < inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! 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The DOJ announced it dismantled an operation involving 11 individuals accused of running a fraudulent marriage scheme for over a decade, resulting in more than 1,000 fake marriages<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2643872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-08-12T182537.275.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[60131,49347,64353,42407,84071],"class_list":["post-2643871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-government-enforcement","tag-immigration-enforcement","tag-immigration-fraud","tag-international-crime","tag-sham-marriage-scam"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Ben-Working-Feature-Image-2026-08-12T182537.275.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2643871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2643871"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2643871\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2643875,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2643871\/revisions\/2643875"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2643872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2643871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2643871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2643871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}