Major marriage scam involving immigrants uncovered in the USA

Eleven suspects are accused of marriage fraud involving immigrants and U.S. Army soldiers, writes Fox News.

Photo: Shutterstock

The charge includes 29 counts, which include marriage fraud, transporting and harboring foreigners, visa fraud, misappropriation of US property, false statements in immigration matters, and conspiracy to commit marriage fraud.

Former Fort Bragg soldier Ebenezer Yeboa Asane, 37, has been accused of planning and organizing fraudulent marriages between US Army soldiers and immigrants.

According to the Justice Department indictment, the purpose of the conspiracy was to help foreign-born citizens evade U.S. immigration laws and obtain lawful permanent residence status and to help soldiers obtain a basic housing allowance to live outside the barracks.

Another 10 people were accused of conspiring with Asane to recruit other soldiers into the scheme, organizing photography to make the marriages appear legal, and filing false statements with the USCIS.

Among the defendants:

• 32-year-old James Ernest Ekow Arthur from El Paso, Texas
• Ernest Atta Gyasi, 43, from the Bronx, New York.
• Samuel Manu Agyapong, 33, is from Fayetteville, North Carolina.
• 41-year-old Barbara Oppong from the Bronx, New York.
• 23-year-old William Stephen Ballard from Fayetteville, North Carolina.
• Solis Kwaki, 30, from the Bronx, New York.
• Yemisi Mary Opaso, 27, is from Hanover, Maryland.
• Christopher Matthew Urquia, 23, from Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
• Kevin Jacob Ward, 22, is from Fayetteville, North Carolina.
• Effua Aguire-Darko, 43, from Ardsley, North Carolina.

Samuel Agyapong, a sergeant at Fort Bragg, is accused, among other things, of obstructing the formal process, attempting to destroy evidence and influencing witness testimony.

On the subject: 'You will definitely get caught': a Connecticut resident faces a prison for organizing fictitious marriages

If found guilty, the maximum penalty for committing marital fraud, conspiracy to commit marital fraud is up to 5 years in prison.

Meanwhile, the maximum penalty for harboring foreigners is 10 years in prison.

The maximum penalty for obstruction of an official proceeding is up to 20 years in prison, and for visa fraud the maximum penalty is up to 25 years in prison.

Read also on ForumDaily:

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