Thread: Operation Newlywed Game--Rancho Cucamonga

Here is a breaking news story which I have already forwarded to my US Senator:


Rancho Cucamonga woman charged with arranging sham marriages for illegal aliensLead stemmed from massive ICE marriage fraud probe "Operation Newlywed Game"

SANTA ANA, Calif. - A woman from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., made her initial appearance in federal court here this afternoon on federal charges stemming from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) into allegations she arranged sham marriages for dozens of foreign nationals seeking to legalize their immigration status.

Jie Hua Zhou, 35, a.k.a Carol Yeung, was arrested by ICE agents this morning at her Rancho Cucamonga home. The Chinese national is charged in a criminal complaint with conspiring to arrange fraudulent marriages and conspiring to induce illegal aliens to come into or reside in the United States. At her hearing this afternoon, U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Block ordered Zhou detained pending trial. Her arraignment is set for December 29 at 10 a.m.

ICE agents allege Zhou charged anywhere from $20,000 to $50,000 to arrange sham marriages for illegal aliens, primarily from China, who wanted to legalize their immigration status by wedding U.S. citizens. The original lead in the investigation was uncovered during Operation Newlywed Game, a massive ICE probe announced three years ago that targeted a marriage fraud ring based in Orange County involving hundreds of Chinese and Vietnamese nationals. Like the original defendants in Operation Newlywed Game, ICE agents say Zhou went to great lengths to make the bogus marriages appear legitimate, having clients pose for wedding photos, open joint bank accounts and file joint tax returns.

"America's legal immigration system is not for sale and we will move aggressively against those who compromise the integrity of that system simply to enrich themselves," said Robert Schoch, special agent in charge for the ICE office of investigations in Los Angeles. "Marriage fraud, like all and types of immigration benefit fraud, poses a potential security threat because it creates a vulnerability which illegal aliens, criminals, and terrorists can exploit in an effort to remain in this country."

Over the course of the last five years, ICE suspects Zhou has arranged more than 100 fraudulent marriages. Today, agents executed a search warrant at her home, seizing boxes of potential evidence including financial records and scores of wedding photos. ICE agents also moved to seize approximately $200,000 in proceeds from the defendant's various bank accounts.

Investigators allege Zhou would line up prospective U.S. citizen "spouses" to marry her alien clients. After the sham marriages took place, Zhou assisted the couples with filing the bogus immigration petitions. ICE received substantial assistance in the investigation from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service's Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS) program.

"An immigration officer with the FDNS office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services District 23 helped ICE with the interview that led to this arrest, lending her marriage fraud experience and translation abilities," said Los Angeles USCIS District Director Jane Arellano. "FDNS has collaborated with ICE since the inception of this investigation, providing its marriage fraud expertise. USCIS and District 23 are proud to assist ICE in these cases where our adjudication talents can prove useful."

The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.


-- ICE --
http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0811/081120santaana.htm
http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/insideice/ar ... 5_Web1.htm

Next question: She may have arranged all of this, but what prosecution are the other participants going to face?

Are the criminally married immigrants going to face charges, jail time, deportation and a ban from the US?

Or, will they and their attorneys come out screaming that they were "victims" and should be given a free pass and the U Visa?

I wonder how they will even track down her "clients."

You know, I hate to walk around and cast suspicious glances towards people I don't even know. Yet we are getting fleeced at every turn. There is one part of this city---a major north-south avenue--- that seems to have become ground zero for the open borders/immigration movement. I don't even like to set foot in it, anymore, You never know what you are going to encounter.

Monday, December 29, 2008
Woman accused of arranging dozens of sham marriages
Rancho Cucamonga woman pleads not guilty to arranging dozens of phony marriages between foreigners and U.S. citizens.
By ANDREW GALVIN
The Orange County Register
Comments 35| Recommend 5

SANTA ANA A Rancho Cucamonga woman pleaded not guilty Monday to charges that she arranged sham marriages for foreign nationals seeking to legalize their immigration status.

Jie Hua Zhou, 35, spoke through a Cantonese-language interpreter as she entered her plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Block. She and her attorney declined to comment after the brief hearing.

According to federal authorities, Zhou offered money to U.S. citizens if they would marry foreigners, primarily Chinese citizens, who wanted to live legally in the United States. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) said Zhou arranged dozens, and possibly more than 100, fake marriages.

Zhou charged immigrants between $20,000 and $50,000 to arrange the marriages, ICE said.

To make the bogus marriages appear legitimate, Zhou had clients pose for wedding photos, open joint bank accounts and file joint tax returns, ICE said.

According to an indictment in her case, Zhou agreed in January 2004 to pay $10,000 to a U.S. citizen, identified as RD, for marrying a foreign national. On Jan. 7, 2004, RD married a Chinese national, identified as JLH, in the People's Republic of China, the indictment said.

On Feb. 9, 2004, Zhou "caused to be submitted" to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) at Laguna Niguel an I-30 immigrant visa application on behalf of RD and JLH, the indictment said.

Zhou paid $2,000 when RD returned from China, then paid more in June 2006 when RD and JLH prepared for an interview with the USCIS, the indictment said.

Two co-defendants named in the indictment, Carrie Jones and Brian McClaughlin, received finders' fees of $500 to $800 from Zhou for recruiting U.S. citizens who were willing to participate in sham marriages, the indictment said.

ICE said the initial lead in the investigation was uncovered during Operation Newlywed Game, which it described as a "massive ICE probe announced three years ago" that targeted a marriage-fraud ring based in Orange County involving Chinese and Vietnamese nationals. In November 2005, 44 people, many of them Westminster residents, were indicted in that scheme.

Block set a trial date for Zhou of Feb. 3, 2009, before U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney. She is charged with three counts of conspiracy to induce aliens to enter or reside illegally. The government estimates a trial would last four to five days.

Zhou is free on $100,000 bond.

www.ocregister.com