Twenty-four Individuals Indicted in Sophisticated Marriage Fraud Scheme Designed to Assist Vietnamese Nationals in Evading U.S. Immigration LawsAugust 8, 2006 Brett L. Tolman FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 8, 2006 CONTACT: MELODIE RYDALCH SALT LAKE CITY – A federal grand jury indictment unsealed in federal court today in Salt Lake City charges 24 individuals with numerous violations of federal law in connection with a sophisticated marriage fraud scheme designed to help Vietnamese nationals enter or remain in the United States while evading provisions of U.S. immigration laws. Announcing the indictment are United States Attorney for Utah Brett L. Tolman; Charles "Chuck" DeMore, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office of investigations in San Francisco; Thomas Depenbrock, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security San Francisco Field Office; and Mario Ortiz, Denver District Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). The 79-count indictment, which was returned by a grand jury Thursday, follows a multi-agency 18-month investigation. The investigation started with a tip from a citizen. The charges in the indictment include conspiracy to defraud the United States; encouraging or inducing an illegal alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States (alien smuggling); marriage fraud; visa fraud; and aggravated identity theft. Charged in the indictment are Hoa Thanh Vo, age 40, of West Valley City; Henry Ngoc Nguyen, age 45, of West Jordan; Buu Van Troung of West Jordan; Ngoc Hoa Huynh (aka "Noa," "Nora," "Norwa"), age 33, of West Jordan; Huu Luong Huynh (aka "John Huynh"), age 31, of South Jordan; Danh Huy Do, age 33, of West Valley City; James Hugh McClurg, age 48, of Sandy; Tinh Huu Cao, age 37, of West Jordan; Lanh Ta Huynh, age 52, of West Jordan; Dzung Tan Huynh (aka "Jace"), age 43, of Sandy; My Chau Tran (aka "Leelee," "Lily"), age 29, of South Jordan; Hue Thi Huynh, age 40, of West Jordan; Tri Dung Minh Nguyen (aka "Yoon"), age 40, of West Valley City; Mischelle Lien Polish, age 33, of Murray; Cuc Thi Nguyen (aka "Kathy Nguyen) of South Jordan; Billy Chanh Tran, age 47, of Las Vegas, Nevada, Thi Tho Nguyen, age 55, of Salt Lake City; Gary Minh Nguyen, age 38, of West Valley City; Johnathan Quy Tran, age 49, of Salt Lake City; Winona Juan Fischer (aka "Wendy Fischer"), age 56, of Salt Lake City; Dung Lee, age and residence unknown; Hieu Dinh Hoang, age 34, of West Valley City; Tamy Ta, age 56, of Sandy; and Yen Thi Pham, age 35, of Sandy. Most of the defendants are naturalized U.S. citizens. The indictment alleges the defendants recruited United States citizens to travel to Vietnam to enter into fictitious engagements or fraudulent marriages to facilitate the unlawful entry of the Vietnamese nationals into the United States. On occasion, the indictment alleges, U.S. citizens were recruited to enter into fraudulent marriages with Vietnamese nationals already in the United States. "The scheme alleged in this indictment takes the concept of ‘arranged marriage’ to a new level," U.S. Attorney Brett L. Tolman said today. "Those charged in this indictment exploited a process intended to assist families. Their subversion was motivated by greed. The purpose of this indictment is two-fold. First, we want to disrupt and punish this criminal activity. Second, it is important to all of the agencies involved in this case that we restore the integrity of the marriage visa process," Tolman said. "Marriage fraud and other forms of immigration benefit fraud are potential threats to public safety because they create a vulnerability through which illegal aliens, criminals, and terrorists can enter the United States," said Charles DeMore, Special Agent in Charge of the ICE office of investigations in San Francisco, which includes Utah. "This case sends a clear message that if you commit marriage fraud, there is not going to be a honeymoon. ICE is working aggressively to ensure that this kind of criminal activity does not go unchecked or unpunished." The indictment alleges the defendants paid U.S. citizens between $500 and $10,000, in addition to travel and other related expenses, in exchange for their agreement to enter into the fictitious engagements or marriages. Defendants told the U.S. citizen recruits that they would not have to live with their Vietnamese spouse once he or she entered the United States and that they would only have to remain married for a limited period of time. The indictment alleges that as a part of the conspiracy, the defendants told some U.S. citizen recruits that the arrangements were, at most, immoral but not illegal. On other occasions recruits were told that they would be helping Vietnamese nationals escape "a terrible situation." The indictment alleges the defendants charged each Vietnamese national approximately $30,000 for the assistance of one or more of the defendants in obtaining documents from the United States government authorizing the entry of the Vietnamese nationals into the United States or their continued residence in the country. The indictment alleges the defendants accompanied the citizen recruits to Vietnam and organized or participated in elaborate but fraudulent engagement ceremonies. The defendants also compiled "evidence" of the relationship to be submitted in conjunction with immigration applications. Most commonly, the indictment alleges, this included photos of the parties designed to give the appearance of a meaningful and long-lasting relationship. In fact, the indictment alleges, the parties spend only a short time together in Vietnam and travel from location to location changing their clothes at each in advance of taking additional photos. According to the indictment, the defendants prepared or caused to be prepared, immigration applications which falsely represented that the recruited U.S. citizen intended to marry the Vietnamese national who was listed on the application as the alien fiancé and falsely represented the circumstances under which they had met. The defendants, according to the indictment, paid all of the filing fees to get the immigration applications prepared and worked with both the Vietnamese national and the U.S. citizen recruit to prepare them to answer questions asked by immigration officials to ascertain whether the claimed relationship is bona fide.
Depenbrock said, "Marriage fraud also threatens Americans who are lured into committing this crime. We have seen instances where the foreign spouse has gained access to bank accounts and other personal information and left the American in financial trouble." The defendants in this case are those who recruited U.S. citizens to participate in the scheme and matched them up with Vietnamese nationals. The indictment does not include charges against any of the U.S. citizen "recruits" or "petitioners." Federal prosecutors say the U.S. citizens have admitted their involvement in the scheme and are cooperating with the investigation. A final decision about whether they will be charged has not been made. "National security is our number one priority. We’re very proud to work closely with other components in the Department of Homeland Security to detect fraud," said Denver USCIS District Director Mario Ortiz. "It also shows the commitment from the general public. This big case started with just one tip from a local citizen." As a part of the investigation, a USCIS Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS) officer began to look at the tip from the citizen. The USCIS officer’s investigation spotted a pattern leading to the identification of 80 to 100 people involved in this alleged scheme. Ultimately, more than 1,000 documents, including between 400 and 600 applications or petitions, were reviewed. As part of the anti-fraud task force lead by ICE, FDNS’ biggest role in the investigation was identifying related individuals, retrieving documents and establishing a database to maintain these cases for future use as evidence. USCIS officers also performed marriage fraud interviews on cases related to this investigation. Arrest warrants were executed Monday. As of Tuesday, 21 arrests had been made. Initial appearances on the indictment started Tuesday morning. The potential maximum penalties for the counts charged in the indictment include up to five years for conspiracy to defraud the United States; up to 10 years for alien smuggling; up to five years for marriage fraud; up to 10 years for visa fraud; and a two-year minimum mandatory sentence to be served consecutive to any other sentence for aggravated identity theft. Dung Lee, Billy Chanh Tran, and Lanh Ta Huynh have not been arrested. Defendants have been detained pending a detention hearing Thursday starting at 11 a.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Brooke Wells. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of property, money and other proceeds the defendants obtained directly or indirectly as a result of the alleged criminal conduct. It also seeks a money judgment of $1,380,000 Defendants charged in indictments are presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty in court. Public Affairs contacts: ICE Public Affairs USCIS U.S. State Department |
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