Todd Blanche said the DOJ Green Card Marriage Scheme was a “years-long, multimillion-dollar cottage industry” after a federal indictment was unsealed Wednesday in New York City. Eleven defendants face charges in the Southern District of New York over allegations that more than 1,000 sham unions were used in a marriage fraud scheme tied to immigration documents.
Todd Blanche on Wednesday
Blanche said the operation was not a short-lived fraud. “This scheme was not a quick fly-by-night operation, but rather a years-long, multimillion-dollar cottage industry to criminally assist people who would not, or legally could not, otherwise become citizens of the United States,” he said at a Wednesday news conference.
Prosecutors said the case is one of the largest marriage fraud prosecutions in the United States. They said Chinese nationals paid up to $100,000 to enter fake marriages with U.S. citizens, while the citizens involved were paid as much as $30,000.
Southern District of New York
The indictment charges the defendants with conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and immigration document fraud, along with conspiracy to encourage the unlawful residence of aliens in the United States. Prosecutors said the New York City-based fraud ran from at least 2016 through July 2026 and included facilitators, recruiters, and assistants who handled marriages and immigration paperwork.
All 11 defendants are naturalized U.S. citizens from China and one is a green card holder, according to the charging document. The defendants named are Amy Cheng, Xiao Mei Chan, Christine Lu, Jing Yan Ye, Xiao Yan Chen, Gang Zheng, Anthony Cheng, Michelle Duenas, Angela Duenas, Sigrid Cetino, and Erika Johnson.
Anthony Cheng ceremonies
Prosecutors linked Anthony Cheng to two sham marriage ceremonies: one on or about Dec. 17, 2024, involving Sigrid Cetino and a foreign national, and another on or about Jan. 15, 2025, involving a foreign national and Erika Johnson. Those dates place his alleged role near the end of the long-running network prosecutors described.
The payment structure described by prosecutors ran in stages. Foreigners allegedly paid as much as $100,000 to enter the marriages, while U.S. citizens were paid mostly in installments tied to milestones in the green card application process, with total payments reaching as much as $30,000.
The indictment gives affected readers one clear practical point: the charges are already filed, and the case now moves through the Southern District of New York on the strength of that charging document. The remaining question is the evidence prosecutors used to tie the 11 defendants to more than 1,000 sham marriages and to the paperwork that followed each one.
