DOJ Announces Indictments in Sham Marriages Case

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced charges Wednesday against 11 people for their alleged involvement in a decadelong “multimillion-dollar marriage fraud scheme” that federal prosecutors said secured Chinese nationals permanent U.S. resident status.

In an indictment filed in the Southern District of New York, federal prosecutors alleged that these people participated in an “extensive” plot to obtain green cards for more than 1,000 foreign nationals.

Chinese nationals paid as much as $100,000 for these services, with participating U.S. citizens receiving up to $30,000 of this profit, in a scheme allegedly run by defendants Amy Cheng, Xiao Mei Chan, Xiao Yan Chan and Gang Zheng, according to prosecutors.

Attorney General Todd Blanche called this case “one of the largest marriage fraud prosecutions” in the nation’s history in a press conference Wednesday.

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The 21-page indictment includes what are alleged to be photos of several sham marriage ceremonies. Prosecutors said in the indictment that these ceremonies were held in several states — including in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida — as well as abroad in Vanuatu and China.

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