6 Pinoys among those charged for alleged sham marriages for US green cards

BOSTON – Six Filipinos were among 11 California-based individuals who were indicted for supposedly running a large-scale marriage fraud “agency” that allegedly arranged hundreds of sham marriages to circumvent US immigration laws.

The following defendants were indicted on Friday for alleged conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and immigration document fraud:

• Marcialito Biol Benitez, a/k/a “Mars,” 48, a Philippine national residing in Los Angeles;
• Engilbert Ulan, a/k/a “Angel,” 39, a Philippine national residing in Los Angeles;
• Nino Reyes Valmeo, 45, a Philippine national residing in Los Angeles;
• Harold Poquita, 30, a Philippine national residing in Los Angeles;
• Juanita Pacson, 45, a Philippine national residing in Los Angeles;
• Felipe Capindo David, a/k/a “Pilipi” or “Peebles,” 49, a Philippine national residing in Los Angeles;
• Peterson Souza, 34, a Brazilian national residing in Anaheim, California;
• Devon Hammer, 26, of Palmdale, California;
• Tamia Duckett, 25, of Lancaster, Inglewood and Palmdale, California;
• Karina Santos, 24, of Lancaster, California; and
• Casey Loya, 33, of Lancaster and Palmdale, California.

Eight of the defendants, including Benitez, were arrested in California. They appeared before the federal court in the Central District of California and will appear in Boston at a later date.

According to the indictment, Benitez operated what he and others referred to as an “agency” that arranged hundreds of sham marriages between foreign national “clients” and United States citizens. One of those foreign national clients resided in Massachusetts.

The agency then allegedly prepared and submitted false petitions, applications and other documents to substantiate the sham marriages and secure adjustment of clients’ immigration statuses for a fee of between $20,000 and $30,000 in cash.

Benitez allegedly operated the agency out of brick-and-mortar offices in Los Angeles, where he employed his supposed co-conspirators as staff. Specifically, it is alleged that Valmeo, Ulan, Poquita and Pacson assisted in arranging marriages as well as submitting fraudulent marriage and immigration documents for the agency’s clients, including false tax returns. 

Hammer, Duckett, Santos and Loya allegedly served as “brokers” who recruited US citizens willing to marry the agency’s clients, in exchange for an upfront fee and monthly payments from the client spouses following the marriage, and kept the US citizens responsive and cooperative until the client spouse obtained lawful permanent resident status. 

It is also alleged that Souza and Capindo David referred prospective foreign national clients to the agency for a commission, typically around $2,000 per referral.

After pairing foreign national clients with citizen spouses, Benitez and his staff allegedly staged fake wedding ceremonies at chapels, parks and other locations, performed by hired online officiants. For many clients, the agency would allegedly take photos of undocumented clients and citizen spouses in front of prop wedding decorations for later submission with immigration petitions.

Benitez and his staff then allegedly submitted fraudulent, marriage-based immigration petitions to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the federal agency responsible for granting lawful permanent resident status.

It is alleged that Benitez and his staff coached clients and spouses through interviews with USCIS and advised clients about maintaining the appearance of legitimate marriage to their spouses.

According to the indictment, Benitez and his co-conspirators arranged sham marriages and submitted fraudulent immigration documents for at least 400 clients between October 2016 and March 2022.

It is further alleged that Benitez and his co-conspirators would assist certain clients – typically those whose spouses became unresponsive or uncooperative – with obtaining green cards under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) by claiming the undocumented clients had been abused by alleged American spouses. Specifically, the agency would allegedly submit fraudulent applications on clients’ behalf for temporary restraining orders against spouses based on fabricated domestic violence allegations. Benitez and his co-conspirators would then allegedly submit the restraining order documentation along with immigration petitions to USCIS, in order to take advantage of VAWA provisions that permit non-citizen victims of spousal abuse to apply for lawful permanent resident status without their spouses’ involvement.

Conspiracy to commit marriage fraud carry with it a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.

Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the US Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case. —KG, GMA News