11 charged in alleged sham marriage scheme that helped Chinese nationals obtain green cards
Washington — The Justice Department on Wednesday unsealed charges against 11 people accused of running a marriage fraud ring that arranged more than 1,000 sham marriages between Chinese nationals and U.S. citizens, federal prosecutors said.
A 21-page indictment filed in the Southern District of New York alleges the operation ran from 2016 through 2026 and was facilitated by defendants Amy Cheng, Xiao Mei Chan and Gang Zheng. The defendants marketed fraudulent immigration services to foreign nationals, primarily citizens of the People's Republic of China, through word of mouth, social media and online advertising, according to the indictment.
Attorney General Todd Blanche called the case “one of the largest marriage fraud prosecutions in United States history.” At a press conference announcing the charges, he said: “This scheme was not a quick fly-by-night operation, but rather a yearslong, multi-million-dollar cottage industry to criminally assist people who would not or legally could not otherwise become citizens of the United States.”
The indictment alleges foreign nationals paid facilitators as much as roughly $100,000 for help arranging a sham marriage and applying for a green card, while facilitators received commissions of about $5,000 per arrangement. It also included photographs of alleged ceremonies that the defendants submitted to U.S. immigration authorities. In some cases, weddings were staged at nearby restaurants, with participants changing into traditional Chinese wedding attire and inviting friends and family to help the ceremonies appear genuine.
While many of the recruiters were based in New York, the alleged scheme stretched to Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Vanuatu and China, among other locations, according to the indictment.
The charges highlight a form of immigration fraud that federal authorities have repeatedly flagged as a threat to the integrity of the lawful residency system. The large scale of the alleged operation — more than 1,000 marriages and an organized network of facilitators across multiple states and countries — sets it apart from many individual fraud cases that U.S. investigators encounter. As with any criminal charges, the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.