LA 'Agency' Stages Fake Marriages In Massive Green Card Scheme: Feds

LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles man has been charged in Massachusetts federal court and accused of running a multi-million dollar scheme with 10 other Californians to get foreign nationals green cards by orchestrating fake marriages with American citizens.

Eleven Californians were indicted Thursday in the scheme, including Marcialito Biol Benitez, also known as “Mars,” a 48-year-old Philippine national who lives in Los Angeles, who prosecutors said operated the bogus marriage agency.

The 10 others indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and immigration document fraud:

• Engilbert Ulan, also known as “Angel,” 39, a Philippine national living in Los Angeles
• Nino Reyes Valmeo, 45, a Philippine national living in Los Angeles
• Harold Poquita, 30, a Philippine national living in Los Angeles
• Juanita Pacson, 45, a Philippine national living in Los Angeles
• Felipe Capindo David, also known as “Pilipi” or “Peebles,” 49, a Philippine national living in Los Angeles
• Peterson Souza, 34, a Brazilian national living in Anaheim
• Devon Hammer, 26, of Palmdale
• Tamia Duckett, 25, of Lancaster, Inglewood and Palmdale
• Karina Santos, 24, of Lancaster
• Casey Loya, 33, of Lancaster and Palmdale

Eight of the 11, including Benitez, were to appear in California federal court that same day before appearing in Boston at a later date, prosecutors said.

Benitez operated the agency out of brick-and-mortar offices in Los Angeles and employed his co-conspirators as staff, prosecutors said. Valmeo, Ulan, Poquita and Pacson helped arrange marriages and submitted fake marriage and immigration documents for the clients, including false tax returns, prosecutors said.

Meanwhile, Hammer, Duckett, Santos and Loya recruited U.S. citizens willing to marry the clients for an upfront fee and subsequent monthly payments from their bogus spouses following the marriage, prosecutors said. The payments, authorities allege, were meant to keep the American citizens cooperating until their "spouse" became legal permanent residents.

Souza and Capindo David referred prospective foreign national clients to the agency and received a commission, typically around $2,000 per referral, prosecutors said.

One of the so-called "clients" in the scheme was a foreign national living in Massachusetts, prosecutors said. The bogus agency charged between $20,000 and $30,000 in cash to prepare and submit false petitions, applications and other documents to substantiate the sham marriages and change the clients’ immigration statuses, prosecutors said.

After pairing foreign nationals with their American citizen spouses, Benitez and his staff then staged fake wedding ceremonies at chapels, parks and other places, going so far as hiring online officiants, authorities said. The agency often snapped photos of undocumented clients and citizen spouses in front of prop wedding decorations that were later submitted with immigration petitions, authorities alleged.

Furthermore, the agency coached the newlyweds through interviews with immigration officials as well as how to maintain an outward appearance of a legitimate marriage, prosecutors said. The indictment said the scheme ran from October 2016 to March 2022 and included least 400 clients between October 2016 and March 2022.

“Marriage fraud is a serious crime that threatens the integrity of our nation’s lawful immigration system,” Rachael S. Rollins, a U.S. attorney, said in a statement. “These defendants’ alleged exploitation of this system for profit is an affront to our nation’s tradition of welcoming immigrants and prospective citizens. Their alleged fraudulent behavior makes things harder for the vast majority of immigrants who follow the law and respect our immigration system."

Prosecutors said the false applications contained allegations of domestic abuse, causing further harm to "real victims and survivors of domestic violence." When American spouses became uncooperative, authorities said the agency helped their clients obtain green cards under the Violence Against Women Act, claiming the American spouses abused their undocumented clients. Part of that scheme included submitting fake applications for temporary restraining orders against the spouses based on fabricated domestic violence allegations, authorities said.

The agency then submitted the restraining order papers and immigration petitions to immigration authorities to exploit legal provisions that allow non-American victims of spousal abuse to apply for lawful permanent resident status without their spouses’ involvement, authorities said.

Joseph R. Bonavolonta of the FBI's office in Boston said the accused "made a sham" of America's immigration process by arranging fake marriages for foreign nationals. In doing so, they racked up millions of dollars in profits, he said.

"We believe their alleged scheme broke immigration laws that are in place to protect public safety and created a disadvantage for those seeking to earn their citizenship lawfully,” Bonavolonta said.

The charge carries a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.