Federal prosecutors have unsealed an indictment charging 11 New York residents with running what officials call one of the largest marriage fraud schemes in U.S. history, a decade-long operation that allegedly arranged over 1,000 bogus weddings to secure green cards for Chinese nationals.
The Department of Justice announced the arrests this week after a two-count federal indictment was unsealed against defendants ranging in age from 26 to 72, all based in New York City and the surrounding suburbs. The alleged conspiracy stretched from 2016 through July 2026, spanned at least seven states and two foreign countries, and generated tens of millions of dollars in illicit revenue, according to federal officials.
Attorney General Todd Blanche framed the case as a direct product of the Trump administration's enforcement priorities. AP News reported Blanche's characterization of the operation:
"This scheme was not a quick, fly-by-night operation but rather a yearslong, multibillion dollar cottage industry to criminally assist people who would not, or legally could not, otherwise become citizens of the United States."
Blanche added that such schemes "have real cost" because they "rob our country of its ability to know who should be and who should not be allowed in America."
The mechanics of the alleged ring were straightforward and lucrative. Facilitators among the defendants identified foreign customers, mainly Chinese nationals, who wanted U.S. green cards. They then paired those customers with American citizens willing to enter sham marriages for cash. The Americans pocketed roughly $30,000 per fake wedding. Facilitators collected approximately $100,000 per arranged marriage. Recruiters who found willing American participants earned about $5,000 per head.
Once a sham couple was matched, fraudulent green card applications were filed with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The marriages took place not only in New York but across Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida, as well as overseas in Vanuatu, a small Pacific island nation, and in China itself.
More than 1,000 such marriages were allegedly arranged over the life of the conspiracy, the Washington Examiner reported. That volume, combined with the $100,000 price tag per transaction, explains how the operation allegedly produced tens of millions of dollars.
The DOJ's ongoing focus on immigration-related fraud extends well beyond this case. The department has also been investigating Rep. Ilhan Omar over allegations of immigration fraud, signaling a broader crackdown on schemes that exploit the legal immigration system.
The 11 defendants face two federal charges. Count one alleges conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and immigration fraud, carrying a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Count two alleges conspiracy to encourage the unlawful residence of illegal immigrants in the United States, carrying a maximum of 10 years. Combined, each defendant faces up to 15 years if convicted on both counts.
The defendants span a wide demographic range. Amy Cheng, 72, also known as "Amy Zhou," and Xiao Mei Chan, 64, also known as "Carmen," are among the oldest charged. The youngest is Angela Duenas, 26, of Staten Island. Others include Christine Lu, 52, of Queens; Jing Yan Ye, 43, of Staten Island; Xiao Yan Chen, 48, of Brooklyn; Gang Zheng, 61, of Queens; Anthony Cheng, 47, of Staten Island; Michelle Duenas, 35, of Staten Island; Sigrid Cetino, 32, of Peekskill in Westchester County; and Erika Johnson, 43, of Ossining, also in Westchester County.
Four of the 11 defendants lived on Staten Island. Three were based in Queens, two in Brooklyn, and two in Westchester County suburbs north of the city. The indictment does not specify which defendants served as facilitators, recruiters, or green card applicants, those role distinctions remain unclear from the publicly available charges.
That kind of fraud prosecution dovetails with other federal efforts targeting immigration abuse. Rep. James Comer has said Omar faces serious legal jeopardy as the DOJ ramps up fraud prosecutions in Minnesota, a separate case but part of the same enforcement posture.
U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald did not hold back about the scale of the operation. As Breitbart News reported, McDonald described the scheme as "nationwide and international" and "multimillion-dollar."
"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."
McDonald's use of the phrase "a central component" suggests the investigation may extend beyond the 11 defendants named so far. The indictment references co-conspirators, though their number and identities have not been publicly disclosed. Nor have prosecutors revealed how many foreign nationals successfully obtained citizenship through the scheme before it was shut down.
The broader pattern of fraud enforcement under this administration has also reached into state-level politics. Vice President Vance recently sent Minnesota welfare fraud evidence to the DOJ, targeting Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison for a criminal inquiry, another sign that the federal government is willing to pursue fraud cases with political dimensions.
The alleged timeline is striking. The indictment states the conspiracy ran from 2016 through July 2026, a full decade during which participants allegedly filed fraudulent paperwork with USCIS, staged weddings across at least seven states, and even traveled overseas to formalize bogus unions in Vanuatu and China.
That the scheme allegedly operated through multiple presidential administrations raises obvious questions about how it escaped detection for so long. USCIS, the agency responsible for adjudicating green card applications, processed the fraudulent filings without catching the pattern for years. McDonald credited unnamed "law enforcement partners" for helping build the case, but the indictment does not identify which agencies assisted or when the investigation began.
Several open questions remain. The total number of foreign nationals who obtained citizenship through the ring is unknown. Whether any of the defendants will cooperate with prosecutors or whether additional charges are forthcoming has not been disclosed. And the indictment's stated end date of "July 2026" is notable, it suggests prosecutors believe the scheme was still active when the charges were brought, or that the date reflects a projected window in the conspiracy's planning.
Marriage fraud represents one of the most persistent loopholes in the legal immigration system. An American citizen who marries a foreign national can sponsor that spouse for a green card, and eventually citizenship, through a process that relies heavily on the couple's own representations to federal officials. When that process is corrupted at scale, over a thousand times, prosecutors allege, it makes a mockery of the system that millions of lawful immigrants navigate honestly.
Blanche put it plainly in his statement: "Schemes like this are a deliberate affront to the United States and our laws and will not be tolerated under the Trump Administration." The DOJ's immigration fraud enforcement has also drawn attention to scandals engulfing Democratic candidates at the state level, though those cases involve different conduct.
Every fraudulent green card issued to someone who gamed the system is one that a lawful applicant waited years to earn. If the DOJ's case holds up, these 11 defendants sold that line-cutting privilege over a thousand times, and pocketed tens of millions doing it.
