A two-count indictment was unsealed today, charging 11 people with conspiring over more than a decade to stage over 1,000 false weddings to unlawfully obtain immigration status for foreign nationals, principally People’s Republic of China citizens. According to the indictment, some individuals paid up to $100,000 for each bogus marriage.
“This Department of Justice is rooting out fraud everywhere — including in our immigration system,” said Attorney General Todd Blanche. “The individuals who were arrested today allegedly orchestrated elaborate schemes to illegally obtain citizenship for foreign nationals through sham marriages. Schemes like this are a deliberate affront to the United States and our laws and will not be tolerated under the Trump Administration.”
“The defendants and their co-conspirators allegedly operated a nationwide and international, multimillion-dollar marriage fraud scheme, using participants to abuse United States immigration laws for their own profit,” said U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald for the Southern District of New York. “Today’s arrests have dismantled a central component of one of the largest marriage fraud schemes charged in United States history. As this prosecution shows, we and our law enforcement partners will relentlessly pursue those seeking to corrupt and exploit our nation’s lawful immigration system.”
“Anyone willing to lie, cheat or steal their way to legal immigration status is a direct threat to America’s national security,” said Director Joseph B. Edlow of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is aggressively pursuing marriage fraud schemes and the criminal organizations and ringleaders who profit from them. USCIS will continue to expose fraud, defend the rule of law, and ensure immigration status is reserved for those who truly qualify.”
“As alleged, this decade-long scheme turned marriage fraud into an international business model arranging countless sham marriages and causing hundreds of fraudulent Green Card applications to be submitted to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services,” said Acting Executive Associate Director John Condon of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). “Through the Homeland Security Task Force, HSI and our partners will continue to dismantle criminal networks that undermine the rule of law, exploit federal laws, and profit from fraud.”
This morning, the following defendants were arrested:
- Amy Cheng, also known as “Amy Zhou,” 72, of Brooklyn, New York;
- Xiao Mei Chan, also known as “Carmen;” 64, of Queens, New York;
- Christine Lu, also known as “Lily,” 52, of Queens;
- Jing Yan Ye, also known as “Serene,” 43, of Staten Island, New York;
- 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, New York; and
- Erika Johnson, 43, of Ossining, New York.
According to the indictment, the defendants ran a nationwide and international marriage fraud network from at least 2016 until July 2026, arranging fraudulent weddings between foreign people, particularly citizens of the People’s Republic of China, and US citizens. Although primarily centered in New York City, the network allegedly organized fraudulent marriages across the United States and abroad, including Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Vanuatu, and China.
The network included people who managed the operation and found foreign customers, recruiters who located willing US citizens and made sure they stayed involved, and assistants who handled immigration forms and submitted fake Green Card applications to US Citizenship and Immigration Services. The fraud also used wedding officiants, attorneys, tax preparers, insurance companies, and other service providers.
Foreign nationals paid facilitators up to $100,000 for a phony marriage and assistance in acquiring lawful permanent resident status. Facilitators, in turn, allegedly paid participating US citizens up to $30,000—typically in installments related to Green Card application milestones—and paid recruiters commissions of up to $5,000 per person recruited. The defendants and their co-conspirators recruited hundreds of US residents to participate in fraudulent marriages.
The defendants committed the deception by connecting foreign nationals with US citizens. Individuals would frequently meet for the first time shortly before acquiring a marriage license, planning sham wedding ceremonies, and staging images to make the marriages appear legal.
Following the ceremonies, scheme participants created evidence to make the marriages appear legitimate, such as staging extra photographs, opening joint financial and utility accounts, filing joint tax returns, and acquiring insurance policies. The defendants and their co-conspirators then prepared and submitted Green Card applications that contained materially false statements, and when interviews with USCIS were required, they instructed the marriage participants on how to conceal the true nature of their relationships and give false answers to immigration officers.
The defendants caused at least hundreds of fake Green Card applications and accompanying papers to be submitted to the USCIS. Based on the scope and duration of the conspiracy, the defendants’ network is estimated to have collected tens of millions of dollars from foreign people seeking lawful permanent resident status.
Law enforcement issued premises search warrants at several places in New York during the defendants’ arrests, including Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and Flushing, Queens.
The defendants have each been charged with one count of conspiracy to conduct marriage fraud and immigration fraud, each punishable by up to five years in jail if convicted. The defendants have also been charged with one count of conspiracy to induce the unlawful residence of foreigners in the United States, which carries a maximum prison sentence of ten years.
This case is being investigated by HSI Hudson Valley, the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, the USCIS Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate, the United States Army Criminal Investigation Division, and the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jake Sidransky and Reyhan Watson from the Southern District of New York.
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