Eleven people in California have been indicted on charges of running a large-scale marriage fraud “agency” that arranged hundreds of sham marriages in order for undocumented immigrants to obtain green cards, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston said Thursday.
The Los Angeles-based operation arranged phony marriages and submitted fraudulent immigration documents for at least 400 clients between October 2016 and March 2022, charging the newlywed clients between $20,000 to $30,000 in cash, according to the indictment.
“Marriage fraud is a serious crime that threatens the integrity of our nation’s lawful immigration system,” U.S. Attorney Rachael S. Rollins said. “These defendants’ alleged exploitation of this system for profit is an affront to our nation’s tradition of welcoming immigrants and prospective citizens.”
Marcialito Biol Benitez, a Philippine national, was the ringleader of the operation, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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Benitez’s “agency” would arrange the fake marriages between foreign national clients and U.S. citizens, who received an upfront fee and monthly payments from their “spouses” for continued cooperation, according to the indictment.
Benitez and his staff allegedly staged fake wedding ceremonies at chapels, parks, and other locations, performed by officiants hired online. The agency would take photos of undocumented clients and citizen spouses in front of prop wedding decorations to use in fraudulent immigration petitions, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
It is alleged that Benitez and his staff coached clients and spouses through interviews with immigration officials and advised clients about maintaining the appearance of a legitimate marriage.
Co-conspirators referred prospective foreign national clients to the agency for a commission of around $2,000 per referral, according to the charging documents.
If spouses became unresponsive or uncooperative, Benitez and his staff would allegedly seek to obtain green cards under the Violence Against Women Act by claiming the undocumented clients had been abused by their American spouses.
The Violence Against Women Act allows noncitizen victims of spousal abuse to apply for lawful permanent resident status without their spouses’ involvement.
The scheme racked up “millions of dollars in profits,” according to the FBI.
“It is the utmost honor and privilege to become an American citizen, and the individuals we arrested today have allegedly made a sham of that process by running a large-scale marriage fraud ‘agency’ that arranged hundreds of fake marriages for foreign nationals, racking up millions of dollars in profits,” said Joseph R. Bonavolonta of the FBI’s Boston office. “This case should serve as a warning to others that the FBI and our law enforcement partners are united in our efforts to disrupt and dismantle criminal enterprises that seek to circumvent our laws by fraudulent means.”
Benitez ran the operation out of brick-and-mortar offices in Los Angeles, where he employed his co-conspirators as staff, according to the indictment.
Eight of the defendants, including Benitez, were arrested on Thursday in California and appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Six of the defendants are Philippine nationals, one is Brazilian, and four are American.
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Conspiracy to commit marriage fraud carries a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.
Read the full indictment below.
