http://www.wqad.com/Global/story.asp?S= ... v=1sW7OfPV
June 3, 2005

More than 20 arrested in sham marriage scheme

DES MOINES, Iowa Nearly two dozen people in the Des Moines area have been arrested on federal charges for their alleged involvement in sham marriages to sidestep immigration laws.

Officials say the three-year investigation, dubbed Operation Wedding Band, targeted people who took money to marry foreigners, and most were from Kenya.

So far, 40 Des Moines-area people have been indicted. Twenty are still being sought.

U-S Attorney Matthew Whitaker says the it's the first wave of arrests, and more than 100 other people are under investigation. Similar investigations are under way across the country, but the Des Moines sweep turned up one of the largest clusters of arrests in recent years.

Whitaker says Des Moines appealed to Kenyans because a few people had success with fraudulent marriages earlier this decade and then helped friends in their homeland.