Accused of bogus marriage-for-citizenship scam, Chinese pair allegedly bilked thousands

A Chinese man and his daughter will stand trial in Los Angeles next month after they pleaded not guilty to an alleged immigration fraud scheme in which Chinese nationals paid tens of thousands of dollars to be "married" to US citizens.

The pair pleaded not guilty at their arraignment on Tuesday and a trial is set for Nov 17, Virginia Kice, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokeswoman, told China Daily on Wednesday.

Jason Shiao, 65, who posed as an attorney, and his daughter, Lynn Leung, 43, lined up US citizen "spouses" for their clients, prepared and filed immigration petitions, and created fraudulent paper trails for the "couples", including phony apartment leases, wedding photos, bank statements and income tax returns.

A federal criminal complaint provided by ICE alleges that Chinese nationals paid up to $50,000 to enter into bogus marriages in the hopes of obtaining lawful permanent resident cards that would allow them to legally reside in the US.

According to the criminal complaint, a Chinese national agreed to pay Shiao and Leung $50,000 in Oct 2013 in exchange for having a husband introduced to her and to get her green card.

The woman originally thought a legitimate marriage would be brokered for her, only to find the relationship was not real and that the US citizen she was to marry was, in fact, gay. Leung told her that the marriage was "a business deal" and she could not contact the "would-be husband". She ended up paying Shiao and Leung a total of $40,000.

To make the unions appear real, Shiao and Leung paid for one "couple" to visit Las Vegas for a "honeymoon" and held an actual marriage ceremony, according to the affidavit in support of the complaint.

A third defendant charged in the case, Shannon Mendoza, 48, of Pacoima, Los Angeles, remains at large and is being sought. He acted as a recruiter by finding US citizens who were willing to enter into sham marriages in exchange for payments of up to $10,000. Mendoza allegedly sought out prospective US citizen "spouses" who were in dire financial straits and then arranged for them to meet Shiao and Leung.

However, according to the affidavit, most of the nearly two dozen "spouses" interviewed by investigators never received the amount of money they were promised.

Investigators have identified more than 70 fraudulent immigration applications associated with Shiao and Leung during the period from October 2006 to July 2015.

The charge of conspiracy to commit visa fraud carries a statutory maximum penalty of five years in prison. In addition to prison time, if convicted, Shiao and Leung - who are dual citizens of China and Australia, and themselves lawful US permanent residents - face possible deportation.

liazhu@chinadailyusa.com