JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Federal prosecutors announced charges Tuesday against 11 people accused of running a scheme that recruited U.S. service members into sham marriages with Chinese nationals to obtain immigration benefits and military identification cards.
Greg Kehoe, U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida, said the indictment includes two counts: a conspiracy to recruit U.S. citizens — “preferably members of the United States armed forces” — to enter fraudulent marriages with citizens of the People’s Republic of China, and a bribery conspiracy to obtain Department of Defense common access cards, or CACs.
The indictment alleges the sham marriages took place in New York, Connecticut, Las Vegas and Jacksonville. Organizers photographed wedding ceremonies and other events to present to immigration officials as proof the unions were legitimate, prosecutors said.
At the center of the alleged conspiracy is an organizer named Annie Chen, who prosecutors say focused recruitment on Navy service members. Helen Fang is identified in the indictment as a translator used throughout the transactions.
Three of the defendants are accused of taking part in a bribery plot to buy CACs, which give cardholders access to military facilities, commissaries and exchanges in the United States and abroad. Prosecutors said one defendant who has already pleaded guilty paid about $3,500 to a serviceman and an employee at Naval Air Station Jacksonville to obtain the cards.
Prosecutors described a payment structure tied to the sham marriages: roughly $10,000 at the wedding, about $20,000 when a green card or comparable credential was obtained, and an additional payment at divorce. They said the average total paid per arranged marriage was about $35,000.
Several defendants named in the indictment are Chinese nationals; prosecutors say some are in the United States illegally. Three defendants were U.S. citizens who allegedly agreed to help the conspiracy. Two defendants named in the indictment were active-duty service members at the time of the alleged conduct.
Kehoe said four additional people previously charged in the investigation have pleaded guilty, bringing the total number of people charged in the broader probe to 15.
Law enforcement officials said arrests have been made in multiple jurisdictions, including the Eastern District of New York, and most of the defendants are in custody and have had initial appearances.
The case remains under investigation. Prosecutors did not announce charges or potential penalties for individual defendants at the press conference.