Ukrainian and her husband arrested for immigration marriage scams in New York

A husband and wife from Brooklyn were arrested on January 29 on charges of creating a fraudulent scheme with green cards through a marriage that they used for many years.

Photo: Facebook / William Jacobsen

60-year-old William Jacobsen and 68-year-old immigrant from Ukraine Martha Medvedev were brought to trial on fraud charges, during which the couple took 30 000 dollars from immigrants for help in finding US citizens wishing to enter into fake marriages. After that, fraudsters prepared couples for interviews on getting green cards by immigrants through marriage, writes The New York Post.

The disclosure of the scheme took place after federal agents had been listening for Jacobsen’s phone for several months and sent an agent with a recording device to the pair, who offered to participate in a “fictitious marriage for money”. As a result, scammers brought the agent with a potential immigrant wife.

In October, the FBI 2018 sent an unnamed “confidential source” to meet Jacobsen at his home in Brighton Beach. During the meeting, the front-end partner of the fraud was recording the talks on video, during the meeting Jacobsen said that he arranged bogus marriages between Americans and immigrants during 15 years.

He then explained how the scheme worked, saying that an American citizen receives 10 000 dollars for participation in it, and 30 000 dollars for services rendered to an immigrant. He clarified that a fictitious couple needs to create a joint bank account, in addition, a US citizen had to add the name of a fictitious spouse to his rental contract.

Later, Jacobsen sent the agent a photo of the woman with the signature: “Mina, 28 years old, Russian ... Very nice girl, decent, honest and with a great body,” the agent later met with the woman to discuss a potential marriage.

In a telephone conversation the next day, Jacobsen told the agent that the interview with the immigration authorities would be “easy.”

“The hardest part is getting married because both parties are nervous, they have to go there and kiss each other,” the scammer said.

Photo: Facebook / William Jacobsen

The FBI also found three other fake marriages, allegedly coordinated by Jacobsen and Medvedeva. They were able to be calculated by correspondence and telephone calls between fraudsters and their clients.

In one of the correspondences, the newly-made “spouse” from Staten Island wrote to Jacobsen that his fictitious marriage prevented him from starting new mistresses.

“How long do I need to be married?” the US citizen asked, according to court documents.

“Maybe another year,” Jacobsen replied, to which the citizen countered, “We’ve already been married for a year and a half.”

During the indictment of Jacobsen, Attorney Elizabeth McKiavernna stated that the investigation was not sure that his marriage to Medvedeva was legal, noting that they had gotten married just 11 days after he divorced his third wife in 2008 and is currently not live together

Photo: Facebook / William Jacobsen

According to court documents, Ukrainian citizen Medvedev received US citizenship as a result of her marriage to Jacobsen.

Medvedev was released pending trial on bail at 100 000 dollars; there was no meeting on the appointment of bail for Jacobsen.

Both fraudsters face up to 10 years in prison if their guilt is proven.

Read also on ForumDaily:

How a divorce can affect immigration status

Which of the relatives can be transported to the US by a green card holder

The ten most common mistakes when applying for a green card

Getting a green card: step by step instructions

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