Four Philippine nationals living in Los Angeles have been sentenced in federal court for an elaborate $8 million scheme that arranged more than 600 sham marriages, circumvented immigration laws and obtained green cards by falsely claiming undocumented clients were abused by their American spouses.
Earlier this month, U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper in Massachusetts sentenced ringleader Marcialito Biol Benitez, 50, to 22 months in prison and three years of supervised release for the scam that operated from October 2016 to March 2022.
Co-defendants Engilbert Ulan, 43, received a 14-month prison sentence, and Juanita Pacson, 48, was placed on four months of house arrest followed by two years of supervised release.
Another co-defendant, 47-year-old Nino Valmeo, received six months of home detention and three years of supervised release.
All four were convicted in 2023 of conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and immigration document fraud. Additionally, several other co-defendants were previously sentenced for their roles in the scam that involved at least one foreign national living in Massachusetts.
“This case is a prime example of multiple agencies working as a team to uphold and protect our country’s lawful immigration system,” Alanna Ow, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for the San Diego District, said in a statement after the indictments were handed down.
The Center for Immigration Studies estimated one in six new legal immigrants in 2022 gained their status by marrying either a U.S. citizen or a green card holder.
NBC4, based in Washington, D.C., reported in 2018 that each year about 450,000 U.S. citizens marry foreign spouses and petition to get them legal permanent residency, noting it’s one of the shortest paths to citizenship at just three years.
Clients charged $20,000 to $30,000
Benitez operated a phony marriage agency at the headquarters of Career Ad Management, a temporary staffing agency at 3325 Wilshire Blvd. in Koreatown near downtown Los Angeles.
According to the indictment, the defendants identified prospective foreign national clients for the agency through referrals from prior clients and by word of mouth. One former client referred 25 new clients, primarily from Brazil, to Benitez, who paid about $2,500 for each referral.
The defendants held introductory meetings with clients at the Career Ad Management office and other locations, requiring them to pay $20,000 to $30,000.
Benitez provided clients with payment schedules that detailed upfront costs for the fraudulent marriage ceremony, the filing of immigration documents, and monthly payments to the U.S. spouse, to keep the spouse cooperative until the client obtained full lawful permanent resident status.
Brokers working for Benitez recruited about 200 spouses from October 2020 to December 2021, the indictment states.
The brokers would collect photos of prospective spouses and gather images of their birth certificates, Social Security cards and drivers’ licenses, which Benitez would use in preparing fraudulent marriage and immigration documents. Benitez also filed false tax returns for prospective spouses that would be submitted along with immigration petitions for clients, the affidavit says.
Matchmaking conducted
Once Benitez identified one or more potential spouses for a client, he would arrange meetings to assess whether they were a good fit and that their marriage would not arouse suspicions with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
According to the indictment, once the couple agreed to marry, brokers would take the spouses shopping for clothing suitable for wedding ceremonies. Benitez commanded the brokers to “ensure that spouses were not on drugs on the dates of meetings or wedding ceremonies” that were held at chapels and in parks, says the indictment.
Additionally, Benitez and his associates hired online wedding officiants to perform sham ceremonies and took photos of clients and spouses posed in front of prop wedding decorations.
If clients lived outside of California and needed to show residency, Benitez arranged for them to rent physical addresses and mailboxes belonging to Valmeo, Ulan and Pacson as well as other staff, says the indictment.
Benitez also advised clients about maintaining the appearance of legitimate marriages to their spouses, while his staff would assist them with opening joint bank accounts, registering vehicles, purchasing life insurance policies and filing joint tax returns.
Photo sessions of clients and spouses were also staged in front of artwork at Career Ad Management to create photographic evidence of them being a couple, says the indictment. Benitez and others also held coaching sessions and provided clients and spouses with practice questions to prepare them for USCIS interviews.
‘Good chemistry’ important
According to the indictment, some practice questions were: “Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?” and “What is the color of your spouse’s toothbrush?” The list concluded with hypothetical questions, such as, “How much did you pay for your spouse in this marriage?” and “Is there someone helping you?”
The list explained that “the main objective is to prove that the marriage is genuinely true” and instructed couples and spouses to show “good chemistry.”
During one instance in 2021, Benitez became upset when a spouse signed a document during a USCIS interview admitting she had been paid $1,700 to enter into an arranged marriage, telling a client not to pay her “one red cent,” according to the indictment.
When spouses stopped responding or became unavailable to follow through with immigration interviews with USCIS, Benitez and his staff would assist clients in obtaining a green card under the Violence Against Women Act by submitting fraudulent forms.
The VAWA is a federal law that provides housing protections for people applying for or living in units subsidized by the federal government and who have experienced domestic violence, dating violence or sexual assault.
Benitez and his associates would help clients seek a green card by submitting fraudulent applications for temporary restraining orders in Los Angeles Superior Court based on alleged domestic violence by spouses, the indictment says. Temporary restraining order documentation would then be submitted to the USCIS.