Federal Court in Boston on Thursday jailed ring leader of sham-wedding syndicate for operating ‘large-scale’ ruse to help immigrants obtain green cards

Marcialito Biol Benitez and three accomplices, all Philippine nationals, were accused in April 2022 of operating a large-scale marriage fraud “agency” that made more than $8 million over five years

The group was accused of setting up sham marriages to help over 600 migrants bypass immigration laws and obtain green cards

Clients were charged $20,000to $35,000 in cash, for the scam marriages and adjustment of their immigration status

Benitez ran the “agency” out of an offices in Los Angeles and would rely on his co-conspirators to recruit Americans to wed the agency’s clients

Marcialito Biol Benitez, 50, Juanita Pacson, 48, Engilbert Ulan, 43, Nino Valmeo, 47, and seven others were charged with conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and immigration document fraud

Benitez were sentenced to 22 months in prison, Pacson received two years of supervised release, Ulan was sentenced to 14 month in prison, while Valmeo was sentenced to three years of supervised release

Marcialito Biol Benitez allegedly ran the “agency” out of offices in Los Angeles. Benitez [right], is the ringleader of the group that arranged sham marriages and filed more than 600 bogus applications between October 2016 and March 2022, according to feds

Members of a syndicate operating a large-scale marriage fraud “agency” that set up sham marriages to help over 600 migrants bypass immigration laws and obtain green cards, were sentenced this week for the scam in federal court in Boston.
The group’s leader and three accomplices, all Philippine nationals living in the Los Angeles area, were charged along with seven others with marriage fraud and immigration document fraud for recruiting American citizens to marry the agency’s clients, staging “hundreds of sham marriages” in exchange for cash, that made more than $8 million over five years, federal prosecutors in Massachusetts said.
Feds shut down the immigrant wedding mill in April 2022.

The operators of the wedding and documentation mill were arrested and charged with ‘large scale’ marriage fraud and immigration document fraud by U.S. Department of Justice in April 2022

Ring leader Marcialito Biol Benitez, 50, and his accomplices Juanita Pacson, 48, Engilbert Ulan, 43 and Nino Valmeo, 47, were arrested and charged along with seven others with conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and immigration document fraud.
Benitez was sentenced Thursday to 22 months in prison and three years’ supervised release. He pled guilty to the charges in September 2023.
Juanita Pacson was sentenced to two years of supervised release with the first four months on home detention after also pleading guilty in September 2023.
Engilbert Ulan was sentenced last Wednesday to 14 months in prison and three years’ supervised release. He was convicted by a federal jury in November 2023.
Nino Valmeo was sentenced to three years of supervised release with the first six months on home confinement in January after pleading guilty to the charges in August

The sham agency with offices in Los Angeles, charged to prepare the documents and arrange the marriages for a fee of between $20,000 and $35,000 in cash, netting more than $8 million over five years.

Authorities said Marcialito Biol Benitez, 50, ran the so-called “agency” out of brick-and-mortar offices in Los Angeles and would rely on his co-conspirators to recruit Americans to wed the agency’s clients.
The agency would then stage fake wedding ceremonies with hired online officiants, and took “photos of undocumented clients and citizen spouses in front of prop wedding decorations for later submission with immigration petitions,” the attorney’s office said.

Benitez and his co-conspirators would also help the phony couples prepare to pass interviews with immigration authorities and “advised clients about creating and maintaining the appearance of legitimate marriage to their spouses,” the attorney’s office said.
The scam marriages and adjustment of clients’ immigration status would cost between $20,000 and $35,000 in cash.
Authorities said Benitez through his agency would also help some clients whose fake spouses became unresponsive or uncooperative by obtaining green cards under the Violence Against Women Act, claiming the undocumented client had been abused by their American spouse.
Benitez, Ulan, Valmeo, and Pacson assisted clients with preparing fraudulent supporting documents submitted as “evidence” of the marriages’ legitimacy.
Ulan, Valmeo and Pacson also rented the use of their apartment addresses to clients who lived outside of Los Angeles so those clients could list these addresses as their own on green card applications and related documents, to make it appear to immigration authorities that they were living with their sham spouses in the Los Angeles area.
Ulan and Valmeo also received cash commissions for referring new clients to the agency.

In some cases where the clients fake spouses became unresponsive or uncooperative, the agency stepped it up by obtaining green cards under the Violence Against Women Act, claiming the undocumented client had been abused by their American spouse – Feds

Benitez and his co-conspirators were charged with conspiracy to commit marriage fraud in March and immigration document fraud in April 2022, the attorney’s office said.
Benitez was sentenced Thursday to 22 months in prison and three years’ supervised release. He pled guilty to the charges in September 2023.