More than 1,000 sham marriages, payments of up to $100,000 and an alleged immigration fraud network stretching across the United States and overseas are at the center of a major federal prosecution in New York.
Federal prosecutors have charged 11 people with allegedly operating a multimillion-dollar marriage fraud scheme that, for more than a decade, paired foreign nationals, primarily Chinese citizens, with U.S. citizens in fake marriages designed to secure lawful immigration status.
The defendants were arrested Thursday and are expected to appear in court in Manhattan, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
Prosecutors allege the operation ran from at least 2016 through July 2026, with its roots in New York City but an international reach that extended to Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Vanuatu and China.
At the heart of the alleged operation was a simple but lucrative arrangement. Foreign nationals seeking permanent residency could pay facilitators as much as approximately $100,000 to arrange a sham marriage and help navigate the immigration process. U.S. citizens recruited to participate allegedly received up to $30,000, while recruiters could earn commissions of as much as $5,000 for each person they brought into the scheme.
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The scale of the alleged operation was significant. Investigators say hundreds of U.S. citizens were recruited to marry foreign nationals they often barely knew, with some couples allegedly meeting for the first time shortly before obtaining a marriage license.
The indictment alleges that the network went far beyond arranging fake weddings. Participants allegedly staged wedding ceremonies and photographs to create the appearance of genuine relationships. They then allegedly manufactured additional evidence, including joint bank and utility accounts, joint tax returns and insurance policies, to convince immigration authorities that the marriages were legitimate.
When immigration interviews were required, participants were allegedly coached on what to say and how to conceal the true nature of their relationships from U.S. immigration officials.
Prosecutors say the network helped cause at least hundreds of fraudulent Green Card applications and supporting documents to be submitted to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Given the size and duration of the operation, investigators believe the network collected tens of millions of dollars from foreign nationals seeking lawful permanent resident status.
“This Department of Justice is rooting out fraud everywhere, including in our immigration system,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said. He accused those arrested of allegedly using elaborate schemes to obtain U.S. citizenship for foreign nationals and said such conduct would not be tolerated under the Trump administration.
U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald described the alleged operation as one of the largest marriage fraud schemes charged in U.S. history, saying the arrests had dismantled a central part of the network.
USCIS Director Joseph B. Edlow also warned that authorities are stepping up efforts to identify marriage fraud and the organizations that profit from it.
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The 11 defendants are Amy Cheng, also known as Amy Zhou, 72, of Brooklyn; Xiao Mei Chan, also known as Carmen, 64, of Queens; Christine Lu, also known as Lily, 52, of Queens; Jing Yan Ye, also known as Serene, 43, of Staten Island; Xiao Yan Chen, also known as Anna, 48, of Brooklyn; Gang Zheng, also known as Michael and Mike, 61, of Queens; Anthony Cheng, 47, of Staten Island; Michelle Duenas, 35, of Staten Island; Angela Duenas, 26, of Staten Island; Sigrid Cetino, 32, of Peekskill; and Erika Johnson, 43, of Ossining.
Law enforcement also executed search warrants at multiple locations in New York, including areas of Sunset Park in Brooklyn and Flushing in Queens, as the investigation moved forward.
Each defendant faces one count of conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and immigration fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison upon conviction. They also face a conspiracy charge related to encouraging the unlawful residence of foreign nationals in the United States, which carries a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison.
Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI, USCIS’s Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division and the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office are involved in the investigation.
The case comes as federal authorities intensify scrutiny of immigration fraud and organizations accused of exploiting the U.S. immigration system for profit.