Alleged Chinese National Sham Marriage Scheme Busted by Feds

Eleven individuals in New York were indicted in a massive sham marriage network scheme largely benefiting Chinese nationals.

The alleged scheme went on for roughly a decade for over 1,000 phony marriages that had the exclusive purpose of getting legal status in the United States, as some people even paid upwards of $100,000 for the illegal service. 

"Gaining American citizenship and legal status to reside in this great nation is a sacred privilege, and we will ensure it is always done in accordance with the law, protecting our communities and national security,” Blanche said Wednesday at a news conference. 

"This scheme was not a quick fly-by-night operation, but rather a year's long multimillion dollar cottage industry to criminally assist people," he said.

Attorney General Todd Blanche on alleged marriage fraud scheme with Chinese nationals: "This scheme was not a quick fly-by-night operation, but rather a year's long multimillion dollar cottage industry to criminally assist people." pic.twitter.com/FVeJ8QisSl

— CSPAN (@cspan) August 12, 2026

The Wednesday indictments were entirely in New York City, but the Justice Department indicated that there were alleged fake marriages elsewhere in the U.S., including in Massachusetts, Kentucky, Tennessee, several other states, inside China and Vanuatu.

The defendants executed the fraud by pairing foreign nationals with U.S. citizens. The individuals would often meet for the first time immediately before obtaining a marriage license, arranging sham wedding ceremonies, and staging photographs designed to make those marriages… https://t.co/8tZh4DNWvN pic.twitter.com/gu3rMP6Lbf

— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) August 12, 2026

American citizens would get paid as much as $30,000 in smaller payments throughout the process, and recruiters also got roughly $5,000 per citizen who would participate in the scam.

U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald for the Southern District of New York told Townhall that citizens were recruited using social media, including through advertisements that may have been deceptive on their face.

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,” Acting Executive Associate Director John Condon of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) said in a statement. “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.”

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