00:00Today we are announcing the arrest and unsealing of an indictment out of the Southern District of New York
00:05charging 11 individuals for allegedly overseeing an extensive, decade-long marriage fraud scheme
00:14involving more than 1,000 sham marriages between Chinese nationals and United States citizens
00:20and then the submission of fraudulent applications for green cards.
00:25This is one of the largest marriage frauds prosecutions in United States history.
00:31This scheme was not a quick fly-by-night operation but rather a years-long multi-million dollar
00:37cottage industry to criminally assist people who would not or legally could not otherwise
00:43become citizens of the United States.
00:47The men and women who facilitated this scheme were all naturalized citizens originally from
00:52China and one green card holder.
00:57Now the way that this scheme allegedly worked is the facilitators used social media and other
01:04forms of advertising to market fraudulent immigration services to foreign nationals primarily from
01:10China and Chinese nationals would pay these facilitators as much as $100,000 for assistance
01:17in obtaining a marriage which then allowed them to apply for a green card.
01:21The facilitators also paid willing U.S. citizens as much as $30,000 to engage in the sham marriage
01:28with the foreign national.
01:33The facilitators of the scheme would then prepare and submit fraudulent green card applications and
01:38work with the couples through the immigration process, submitting photographs, opening joint bank accounts,
01:45mobile phone accounts, all to obtain green cards to allow them to stay in this country.
01:51But that's illegal.
01:54These charges and the indictments now unsealed, they show how far people will go to cheat our
01:59immigration system.
02:00Gaining American citizenship and legal status to reside in this great nation is a sacred privilege
02:08and we will ensure it is always done in accordance with the law protecting our communities and
02:13national security.
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