Pssst; wanna make $10,000? Marry a Chinese national

[Danno 1,228]

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/12/30/Wom...82421230655470/

Woman accused of arranging fake marriages

SANTA ANA, Calif., Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Prosecutors allege Jie Hua Zhou of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., arranged dozens of fake marriages to help foreign nationals live in the United States.

Zhou, 35, pleaded not guilty Monday in U.S. District Court to charges of conspiracy to induce aliens to enter or reside illegally, The Orange County (Calif.) Register reported Tuesday.

Zhou's alleged sham marriages were discovered during "Operation Newlywed Game," run by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in Orange County in 2005, said federal immigration officials.

Zhou allegedly offered money, sometimes as much as $10,000, to U.S. citizens if they would marry Chinese citizens who wanted to live in the United States, the Register reported.

Immigrants were charged between $20,000 and $50,000 for Zhou's alleged services, which included arranging for fake wedding photos, opening joint bank accounts and filing joint tax returns, the indictment said.

Zhou remains free on $100,000 bond, the Register reported.

[Ling Ling 22]

The economy really is having a global effect.

About 10 years ago, it was common knowledge that you could make

$30K to $50K by marrying a Chinese national.

[peejay 327]

Just before China took over Hong Kong there was a scramble for people to get out before the take over in 1997. I worked with a guy that lived in Lake Jackson, TX and he used to go to a convenience store in his neighborhood owned by a Chinese guy from Hong Kong. The Chinese guy approached him to marry his sister to get her to the USA. He offered to buy him a house and to give him cash to do the dirty deed. My co-worker shined him on for a while and never took the bait. I wonder if the Chinese guy ever found someone to go through with this scam marriage. We'll never know, but it happens all the time here in the USA.

Also, a lot of my high school buddies that went into the US military in the 1970's and were stationed in South Korea told me tales of whores offering to pay them thousands of $$$ to marry them in a sham marriage so they could come to the USA to work as whores over here. In those days it was much easier and there were less regulations for Americans to bring spouses to the USA. The current system has been in place since the mid-1980's with a few minor changes.

There has been and still is way too much fraud in the US immigration system. The internet makes it even worst because people that have no ties overseas or are too lazy to travel come into contact with foreigners much easier than in the past via the internet. I'd say the problem is worst than it's ever been in the past.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Just before China took over Hong Kong there was a scramble for people to get out before the take over in 1997. I worked with a guy that lived in Lake Jackson, TX and he used to go to a convenience store in his neighborhood owned by a Chinese guy from Hong Kong. The Chinese guy approached him to marry his sister to get her to the USA. He offered to buy him a house and to give him cash to do the dirty deed. My co-worker shined him on for a while and never took the bait. I wonder if the Chinese guy ever found someone to go through with this scam marriage. We'll never know, but it happens all the time here in the USA.

Also, a lot of my high school buddies that went into the US military in the 1970's and were stationed in South Korea told me tales of whores offering to pay them thousands of $$$ to marry them in a sham marriage so they could come to the USA to work as whores over here. In those days it was much easier and there were less regulations for Americans to bring spouses to the USA. The current system has been in place since the mid-1980's with a few minor changes.

There has been and still is way too much fraud in the US immigration system. The internet makes it even worst because people that have no ties overseas or are too lazy to travel come into contact with foreigners much easier than in the past via the internet. I'd say the problem is worst than it's ever been in the past.

I agree. This problem is much more widespread than most people could imagine. The immigration underground is huge, and there are plenty of US citizens who are cashing in on it. The sad part about it is all these fraudulent cases make it so much harder for the honest people to make their way through the immigration system.

[Danno 1,228]

Wait a minute... are you telling me I got duped for doing this for free?

Damn... had again!

[Niels Bohr 72]

The solution is to increase humanitarian efforts in those parts of the world so that to reduce the amount of people wanting to leave their country.

[Dakine 26]

Yeah scammers like the one busted is one of the main reasons the embassies are making EVERYONE suffer. Marriages and relationships that are for real end up being victims because of scammers.

[Ban Hammer 13,659]

Wait a minute... are you telling me I got duped for doing this for free?

Damn... had again!

[Jasman0717 9]

There was another ring busted in Garden Grove about 4 years ago, it really slowed down the CSC visa processing. I hope it doesn't do that again

[tallcoolone 102]

50K plus you get an Asian.

Sold........

[NickD 203]

$250,000.00 fine and five years in prison for the USC getting involved with this and it cost me a lot more than ten grand to bring my wife and daughter here, ten grand is nearly enough, maybe more like a million.

Then with that I-864 and if you have a fake marriage certificate good enough to fool the USCIS, certainly good enough to fool your state, and in my state, that alien could clean me out, would be in an excellent position to be blackmailed. Also can use that fake marriage to get that fine and prison term for blackmailing.

And it's because of this we have the conditional residency and I-751 where we are automatically considered guilty with the burden of proof to prove ourselves innocent. Not only that but for the initial investigation, can be an outstanding USC, veteran of a foreign war, and all that stuff, but still treated like a criminal. Ha, would really hate to check that box where I was married to ten aliens before, and if you say know, and they find out, you are in jail.

Not only the initial, but the I-751, and USC process as well, and while you may get that Welcome to America letter from the USCIS, not always welcomed by other narrowed minded Americans that you meet at work or school.

To make a couple of extra bucks, as a USC, may pull it off once, but certainly not the second time, ten grand ain't enough, would have to be more like a million, but still the risk of being blackmailed by that alien. Think it would be easier to be a bank robber if that is your way of getting money.

[Ling Ling 22]

$250,000.00 fine and five years in prison for the USC getting involved with this and it cost me a lot more than ten grand to bring my wife and daughter here, ten grand is nearly enough, maybe more like a million.

Then with that I-864 and if you have a fake marriage certificate good enough to fool the USCIS, certainly good enough to fool your state, and in my state, that alien could clean me out, would be in an excellent position to be blackmailed. Also can use that fake marriage to get that fine and prison term for blackmailing.

And it's because of this we have the conditional residency and I-751 where we are automatically considered guilty with the burden of proof to prove ourselves innocent. Not only that but for the initial investigation, can be an outstanding USC, veteran of a foreign war, and all that stuff, but still treated like a criminal. Ha, would really hate to check that box where I was married to ten aliens before, and if you say know, and they find out, you are in jail.

Not only the initial, but the I-751, and USC process as well, and while you may get that Welcome to America letter from the USCIS, not always welcomed by other narrowed minded Americans that you meet at work or school.

To make a couple of extra bucks, as a USC, may pull it off once, but certainly not the second time, ten grand ain't enough, would have to be more like a million, but still the risk of being blackmailed by that alien. Think it would be easier to be a bank robber if that is your way of getting money.

Great points, and well said Nick.

Many criminals forget that they can be caught before or after the crime....not just during.

Someone once said, criminals get caught because they plan the crime, but not the getaway.

[NickD 203]

I have the original immigration papers for my grandfather, came to Ellis Island and that one form was very neatly hand printed by an immigration officer. Went to Chicago, and had night school one night a week for eight weeks, then became a USC, took all of about two months. A lot has changed since then, did talk personally to my senator about the current procedure, are bad guys really being caught? The I-751 conditional resident procedure was started here in 1988, is it working? No answers to these questions, and besides we have a war in Iraq to worry about. Now the economy, wife and I spent the last five years with immigration, and for us, finally over. It's over for me too as I wanted to keep my wife. And what about those 11-20 million illegals doing here, our borders are still unprotected, hell, our airlines sure are, putting us through great pains just to take a short trip. Think if I were a terrorist, the airlines would be my last choice to come here when I could just walk across the border carrying all kinds of weapons.

The whole system seems crazy to me, but what do I know, not an expert nor a politician. But was a very stressful five years, hey, this is my family!!!

[Danno 1,228]

The solution is to increase humanitarian efforts in those parts of the world so that to reduce the amount of people wanting to leave their country.

I'm not sure if this is said i humor or not?

When you say Humanitarian efforts.. that equates into money.

How much of your income are you willing to send every month to pay foreigners to not break our immigration laws?

[msu17 0]

The solution is to increase humanitarian efforts in those parts of the world so that to reduce the amount of people wanting to leave their country.

I'm not sure if this is said i humor or not?

When you say Humanitarian efforts.. that equates into money.

How much of your income are you willing to send every month to pay foreigners to not break our immigration laws?

The same amount I spend on Iraq or maintaining our missile silo's here. I'd rather my $$ go to improving people's lifestyles than a war.