Sham marriages for money: US prosecutors charge alleged fraud ring in Massachusetts

Federal prosecutors in Massachusetts charged six people from the state on 21 October with allegedly running a sham marriage ring. Five were arrested that morning; the sixth is already serving a prison sentence in an unrelated case, according to the US Attorney's Office. According to the charges, a woman ran the business for more than ten years, arranging an average of 18 to 20 sham marriages a year.

Customers – immigrants without secure legal status – allegedly paid around 38,000 to 40,000 dollars per marriage, disguised as ‘loan’ contracts; the charges cite a 3,000-dollar cash down payment and monthly payments of 500 dollars to the assigned spouse. Four defendants, all US citizens, allegedly married for money so their spouses could file petitions with the immigration agency USCIS; life insurance policies, joint bank accounts and staged photos were meant to make the marriages look real. Axios puts the proceeds at at least six million dollars, part of which allegedly went into real estate and businesses in the Dominican Republic. Several defendants are also accused of concealing their marriages on applications for food aid (SNAP).

The charges include marriage fraud and harbouring illegal aliens, as well as conspiracy to commit both, carrying up to five and ten years in prison per count respectively. ‘What an affront the alleged conduct revealed here today must be to those who play by the rules,’ US Attorney Leah Foley said according to Boston.com. The investigation is ongoing; the immigrants who entered the marriages have not been charged, Boston.com reports. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.