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Federal authorities have charged eleven individuals in connection with an alleged multi-state marriage fraud operation aimed at securing permanent residency and access to U.S. military facilities for Chinese nationals, including the Naval Air Station Jacksonville (NAS Jax).
During a news briefing held in Jacksonville, Gregory Kehoe, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, announced the indictments against the group for conspiring to commit marriage fraud. The accused are suspected of enlisting individuals, particularly U.S. servicemembers, to engage in sham marriages with Chinese nationals.
The indictment outlines that the fraudulent activities began around March 2024. It highlights the role of Anny Chen, who is accused of recruiting Navy reservist Raymond Zumba to enter into a fraudulent marriage with Sha Xie. Following this, Chen and Zumba allegedly expanded their efforts to recruit more individuals for similar fraudulent marriages with Chinese nationals.
“Anny Chen orchestrated the involvement of these Chinese nationals, and, as a citizen of the People’s Republic of China, she was central to the operation,” Kehoe elaborated. “She had connections with Chinese nationals and facilitated their marriage to Americans, effectively bringing these individuals together as outlined in the indictment.”
“Chen got some of these Chinese nationals,” Kehoe explained. “Obviously, she is a PRC citizen. She had Chinese nationals that she knew of, and then she was bringing in Americans to marry them. So, there was some bringing those individuals together in this indictment, but she was the center point.”
Kehoe said the recruits would receive around $35,000 for the marriage. According to the indictment, they would receive $10,000 for the marriage up front, approximately $20,000 when a green card was obtained, and around $5,000 when the divorce was settled.
Kehoe said the purpose of the scheme was to either obtain green cards or permanent residency for the Chinese nationals, or to obtain access to military facilities. In some instances, the recruits were asked to obtain ‘common access cards’ for their fake spouses so they could enter military bases.
“You are talking about individuals, with potential access to not only the air station here in Jacksonville, but Mayport or any other station throughout the United States,” Kehoe said. “Not just throughout the United States, but throughout the world, and any individual that is just free reign of walking throughout that and happens to be a PRC national is something of great significance to us. So, there was great interest and a tremendous amount of work to get to the bottom of this as quickly as we can.”
Kehoe said the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) was tipped off to the alleged scheme when Zumba tried to bribe someone at Naval Air Station Jacksonville into getting unauthorized common access cards. Zumba offered to pay $3,500 in cash in exchange for the cards.
Of the 11 people who were indicted, six are Chinese nationals and five are U.S. citizens. Those are:
- Anny Chen (54, New York)
- Sha Xie (38, China)
- Linlin Wang (38, China)
- Jiawei Chen (29, China)
- Yafeng Deng (23, New York)
- Hailing Feng (27, New York)
- Kiah Holly (29, Maryland)
- Xionghu Fang (41, China)
- Tao Fan (26, China)
- Jaden Bullion (24, Florida)
- Kin Man Cheok (32, China)
Deng and Holly were active duty Navy at the time. All 11 people are charged with Marriage Fraud Conspiracy. Chen and Wang are also charged with Marriage Fraud. Chen, Wang, and Cheok face a bribery conspiracy charge as well.
Zumba along with Brinio Urena, Morgan Chambers, and Jacinth Bailey, who are former servicemembers in the U.S. Navy, have already pleaded guilty to charges related to the scheme.
Kehoe said they are still investigating this scheme; authorities are still working to learn what type of information the Chinese nationals were hoping to obtain from U.S. military bases and where that information was going.