Six arrested in Massachusetts marriage fraud ring charging up to $40,000 per sham ceremony
Federal prosecutors in Massachusetts charged six people for running a decade-long sham marriage ring. Alleged ringleader Jennifer Gonzalez reportedly netted millions arranging up to 20 fraudulent ceremonies.
Massachusetts marriage fraud ring dismantled after decade of sham ceremonies
Federal prosecutors have charged six people in Massachusetts with running a large-scale marriage fraud ring that conducted up to 20 bogus ceremonies to help immigrants obtain legal status, uscis.gov reported. The scheme, which spanned roughly ten years, generated millions of dollars for its participants.
The alleged ringleader, Jennifer Gonzalez, 43, of Fall River, Massachusetts, is accused of orchestrating the operation. The five other defendants were allegedly paid by Gonzalez to participate in the marriages, with several taking part in multiple ceremonies. Each immigrant who entered into a sham marriage paid between $38,000 and $40,000.
All six face charges including harboring illegal aliens, conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens, conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and marriage fraud. Five of the defendants were arrested Wednesday morning and were expected to appear in federal court later that day. A sixth defendant is currently serving a state prison sentence for a firearms offence.
"What an affront the alleged conduct revealed here today must be to those who play by the rules," U.S. Attorney Leah Foley told reporters. "To see a for-profit business whose sole purpose is helping people cheat and skip the line by simply paying for it must be so offensive and disheartening to those who follow our country's laws."
Foley also alleged that Gonzalez, an American citizen, used profits from the ring to purchase businesses and real estate in the Dominican Republic. "Ms. Gonzalez got rich off selling the American Dream all the while investing her money in another country," Foley said. An attorney for Gonzalez could not be reached for comment.
Prosecutors said the investigation remains ongoing. Court documents allege that some defendants also committed benefits fraud, falsely claiming on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) applications that they had never been married. Gonzalez is separately accused of spending $120,000 in SNAP benefits. Additional charges relate to alleged housing and unemployment fraud. None of the immigrants who participated in the marriages have been charged.
John Soares, assistant special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England, said the case illustrates the broader damage such schemes cause. "Marriage fraud undermines the processes that ensure honest, lawful individuals can marry United States citizens and enjoy everything the United States has to offer to them," Soares told reporters. "Fraudsters, like the individuals arrested today, make that process more difficult."
The arrests follow a broader crackdown on marriage fraud amid tightened immigration enforcement by the Trump administration. In August, 11 people were charged in a separate multimillion-dollar scheme involving hundreds of Chinese nationals who allegedly obtained green cards through sham marriages to U.S. citizens. American citizens in that case were reportedly paid up to $30,000 per bogus marriage, with the decade-long scheme netting tens of millions of dollars.
A comparable case was prosecuted in Massachusetts three years ago, when Marcialito Biol Benitez, a 49-year-old Philippine national living in Los Angeles, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and immigration document fraud. Benitez admitted to operating a large-scale marriage fraud agency arranging marriages between foreign nationals and U.S. citizens.
Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)