Federal immigration authorities and investigators with the Department of Homeland Security say they disrupted a scam in which American citizens were helping undocumented migrants get green cards and other immigration benefits through phony marriages.
They’ve dubbed it “Operation Bargain Brides,” but the foreign nationals that authorities say were involved were paying a premium to cheat the system.
Four people, American citizens living in New York and New Jersey, were arrested last month, officials said in a news conference held at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Baltimore.
“These individuals weren’t just coordinating marriages, they were profiting significantly, charging foreign nationals anywhere between $20,000 and $40,000 per arranged union, and generating an estimated $4 million in illicit proceeds,” said Michael McCarthy, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Maryland.
A grand jury indicted those four, the alleged ringleaders of the scheme, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland announced Friday. Three are from New York — Ella Zuran, 65, Tatiana Sigal, 74, and Alexandra Tkach, 41 — and 33-year-old Shawnta Hopper is from New Jersey.
All four are charged with conspiracy to commit visa and marriage fraud.
“Our agents identified over 100 cases in which immigration benefits were sought through fraudulent marriages,” McCarthy said. “USCIS has denied over 100 petitions or applications filed by or for the benefit of these foreign nationals.”
The four indicted in the scheme are accused of inducing U.S. citizens in Maryland and elsewhere to enter sham marriages with foreign nationals living in the U.S. — some in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, sources said — in exchange for payment.
Zuran, Sigal, Tkach and Hopper each face up to five years in prison.
It’s believed the scheme started in 2022. Ten foreign nationals, all men, were arrested at Baltimore’s USCIS office on Thursday. Dozens more are facing arrest.
Aaron Calkins, chief of staff for the director of USCIS, said the case came together when employees in that agency “detected suspicious patterns in interviews.”
“The arrests here, and across several states, are just the beginning,” Calkins said.
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