Federal prosecutors say six people have been charged in connection with an elaborate Massachusetts marriage fraud operation that allegedly arranged sham weddings to help immigrants obtain legal status.
Now we go to breaking news.
Do you have anything to say?
No, I don't.
Are you sorry for what you did?
Do you have any comment on marriage fraud and what you did?
Allegedly.
Breaking news.
New video shows two suspects in an alleged marriage
fraud scheme walking out of federal court in Boston.
Three more will be arraigned today.
Prosecutors say the suspects arranged hundreds
of sham marriages to bypass immigration laws.
Boston 25 News reporter Amanda Hill is outside the federal court
with details on the scheme that lasted over a decade.
The U.S. attorney says this alleged operation went on for years,
raising questions around how people can manipulate
the immigration system
and whether the safeguards designed to catch that fraud are working.
Massachusetts is the best place for you to be. That is a fact.
That's the woman prosecutors accuse of masterminding a large-scale
marriage fraud operation, speaking in a recording captured
by a cooperating witness.
You get health insurance.
You get a lot of help as an immigrant here.
U.S. Attorney Leah Foley announced the charges Thursday,
saying the alleged scheme arranged hundreds of sham marriages
to help foreign nationals obtain immigration benefits,
generating more than $6 million.
Foley says the mastermind behind it all, Jennifer Gonzalez,
has been organizing 18 to 20 marriages a year over the past decade,
charging $38,000 to $40,000 per marriage
and says she would use the same U.S. citizens repeatedly,
having them stay married for three years before divorcing
and starting the process again with a new person and a new marriage.
They were dedicated to making this work.
They would stay married for three years.
It was long enough so that it wasn't suspicious.
It wasn't three weeks later.
In the recording, Gonzalez also says the Trump administration
made the operation more difficult to run
while describing Massachusetts as a sanctuary state.
Trump doesn't like this state because the government from here,
this state, defends us very much.
I asked the U.S. attorney whether the processes in place
to catch these alleged illegitimate relationships had failed.
She said those safeguards caught some cases, but not all.
When you're operating a sophisticated business
and you're being very select into who you're going
to be pairing up to get married,
It's harder to detect.
Six people are facing these federal charges.
Five of them were arrested Wednesday morning
and will be arraigned here later in the day.
The other defendant had already been in custody.
I've also reached out to immigration groups
to get their take on these arrests.
On scene in the seaport, Amanda Hill, for
your local station, Boston 25 News.
