Six people in Massachusetts, United States, have been charged with allegedly arranging sham marriages between undocumented immigrants and US citizens to fraudulently obtain legal immigration status, with each arrangement costing up to $40,000.
The US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts disclosed this in a statement sighted by PUNCH Online on Thursday.
The statement alleged that the scheme’s leader, 43-year-old Jennifer Gonzalez, had operated the business for more than 10 years and made millions of dollars.
“The organisation’s leader has allegedly been orchestrating sham marriages for illegal aliens to enable them to fraudulently obtain immigration status for over 10 years and has made millions of dollars doing so,” the statement read.
The other defendants are 29-year-old Erica Daniels, 39-year-old Chreise Alejandro, 31-year-old Amara Pugh, 31-year-old Jessica Tavares and 26-year-old Jaylin Hill. Five are from Fall River, while Hill is from Attleboro.
According to court documents, Gonzalez allegedly arranged the marriages and paid Daniels, Alejandro, Tavares and Hill, all US citizens, to marry the immigrants. Pugh allegedly worked as the business’s secretary.
The operation allegedly arranged between 18 and 20 sham marriages annually, charging between $38,000 and $40,000 for each arrangement.
The statement read, “Gonzalez’s operation allegedly averages approximately 18 to 20 illegal marriages per year, typically charging between $38,000 to $40,000 per sham marriage.”
Gonzalez allegedly instructed clients on how to make the marriages appear genuine, including opening joint bank accounts, taking out life insurance policies and taking photographs together as married couples.
Investigators allegedly recorded Gonzalez accepting a $3,000 cash deposit and directing the preparation of a disguised loan contract to conceal the arrangement’s fraudulent purpose.
“Gonzalez allegedly told the customer that the contract intentionally avoided mentioning the spouse because doing so would be ‘incriminating,’ and that she designed the documents to conceal the fraudulent purpose,” the statement read.
Customers allegedly made additional monthly payments of $500 to their assigned spouses or people close to them to maintain the sham marriages.
In recorded conversations cited in the court documents, Gonzalez allegedly described Massachusetts as a favourable place for immigrants because of its sanctuary policies.
“I believe that you you can okay, because this state is a sanctuary, like Trump doesn’t like this state because the government from here, the state defends us very much,” Gonzalez allegedly said.
“Massachusetts is the best place for you to be. That is a fact,” she added.
The authorities also alleged that Gonzalez invested proceeds from the scheme in businesses and real estate in the Dominican Republic.
The case further involves alleged welfare fraud.
According to the statement, multiple defendants falsely claimed they had never been married when applying for Massachusetts Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme benefits, despite filing federal immigration petitions for their purported spouses.
Gonzalez allegedly received more than $120,000 in the benefits while operating the scheme and purchasing property in the Dominican Republic.
Five defendants — Gonzalez, Daniels, Alejandro, Pugh and Tavares — were arrested on Wednesday, while Hill is serving a state prison sentence for a firearms offence.
The six face charges including conspiracy to harbour undocumented immigrants, harbouring undocumented immigrants, conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and marriage fraud.
The harbouring charges carry maximum sentences of 10 years’ imprisonment, while the marriage fraud charges carry up to five years.
The investigation is ongoing. The statement said the charges were allegations and that the defendants “are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the court of law.”