Six Arrested in Massachusetts Over Decade-Long Marriage Fraud Ring
Six people, including alleged ringleader Jennifer Gonzalez, face charges over up to 20 sham marriages that helped immigrants gain legal status for $38,000–$40,000 each.
Marriage Fraud Ring in Massachusetts Nets Six Arrests, Millions in Profits
Six people have been charged in Massachusetts with running a decade-long marriage fraud operation that allegedly generated millions of dollars by helping immigrants obtain legal status through sham ceremonies, jamaica-gleaner.com reports.
Federal prosecutors named Jennifer Gonzalez, 43, of Fall River, Massachusetts, as the alleged ringleader. The remaining five defendants were reportedly paid by Gonzalez to participate in the fraudulent marriages, with several taking part in multiple ceremonies. Each immigrant paid between $38,000 and $40,000 to enter into one of the bogus unions — as many as 20 in total.
All six face charges including harboring illegal aliens, conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens, conspiracy to commit marriage fraud, and marriage fraud itself.
Five of the defendants were arrested Wednesday morning. A sixth 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," US 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 detailed how Gonzalez, an American citizen, allegedly funnelled profits from the scheme into 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 declined to comment. She made an initial court appearance Wednesday, with a hearing scheduled for Friday to determine whether she will be held in detention while the case proceeds.
Court documents further allege that some defendants lied on applications for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, falsely claiming they had never been married. Gonzalez is separately accused of collecting $120,000 in SNAP benefits she was not entitled to. Prosecutors also accused the group of engaging in 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 arrests were intended to protect the integrity of the immigration system. "Marriage fraud undermines the processes that ensure honest, lawful individuals can marry United States citizens and enjoy everything the United States has to offer," Soares said. "Fraudsters, like the individuals arrested today, make that process more difficult."
The case is part of a broader federal push against marriage fraud. In August, 11 people were charged in connection with a separate multimillion-dollar scheme that allegedly helped hundreds of Chinese nationals obtain green cards through sham marriages to US citizens, with American participants paid as much as $30,000 each. That operation also spanned roughly a decade and netted tens of millions of dollars.
Three years ago, a comparable scheme was prosecuted in Massachusetts. Marcialito Biol Benitez, a 49-year-old Philippine national then living in Los Angeles, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and immigration document fraud after admitting he had arranged marriages between foreign nationals and US citizens on a large scale.
In the latest case, prosecutors said the investigation remains ongoing.
Source: Google News JM — Crime