Thread: WA-Thai Ginger owner sentenced to prison, immigration fraud

Thai Ginger owner sentenced to prison for immigration fraud



Varee Bradford was paying $20,000 for U.S. citizens to enter into sham marriages with Thai nationals so they could obtain legal status to stay in the U.S.


Story Published: Feb 19, 2010 at 2:21 PM PST
Story Updated: Feb 19, 2010 at 2:21 PM PST
Comments (35)

SEATTLE -- The owner of a chain of popular Seattle-area Thai restaurants was sentenced to six months in prison for immigration fraud Friday.

Varee Bradford, 44, of Sammamish will also be required to have two years of supervised release for recruiting U.S. citizens to engage in sham marriages with four Thai nationals -- three of them who worked in her restaurants.

The point of the marriages was to allow the Thai citizens to obtain legal status to stay in the United States.

According to the plea agreement, the U.S. citizens were paid $20,000 and told the marriages would only have to last two years until the Thai nationals received their green cards.

She was busted when she made the $20,000 offer to an undercover Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent to enter into a sham marriage.

http://www.komonews.com/news/84808032.html

$20,000! Wow, I only got a promise of $10,000 to marry an 18-year-old kid from Romania, a kid about 30 years younger. After I fell to the floor laughing, the next day my best friend was offered only $5,000 to marry the same kid. Unfortunately, the guy trying to convince of this was our insurance agent -- a U.S. citizen for generations.
It is sad that even Americans have to be examined for motives.

Originally Posted by vortex

$20,000! Wow, I only got a promise of $10,000 to marry an 18-year-old kid from Romania, a kid about 30 years younger.

You must not be very handsome, a Chinese lady offered me $30,000 ha ha!