A federal grand jury indicted several Iowa residents for visa fraud by setting up fake marriages as a loophole in the immigration system.
The four individuals from various Iowa cities, including Waterloo and Cedar Rapids, were charged with “aiding and abetting marriage fraud and obstruction of justice,” per the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.
“The charges allege members of the group – who came from the Democratic Republic of the Congo – provided financial assistance to Congolese residents who won visas to the United States and then paired them with fake spouses to bring the fake spouses into the country,” noted the outlet.
“The charges revolve around the Diversity Visa lottery, a random drawing that allows people from underrepresented countries to acquire a visa to live in the United States,” it added. “Since many Diversity Visa winners can’t afford travel to America, they sometimes turn to others to finance their trip with the promise of repayment.”
Unthinkable incompetence: Joe Biden's Secretary of State Antony Blinken says some Afghans “for understandable reasons” are committing visa fraud to try to get to the United States. https://t.co/XcmNAXJ18a
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) September 16, 2021
Authorities call the practice of bringing of an unmarried visa winner bringing a fake “spouse” into the country “coupling.”
“Because many (Diversity Visa) winners may rely on others to pay/sponsor their trip to the United States, DV winners are also susceptible to requests for ‘coupling’ in order to have their trips sponsored,” the indictment said.
The indictment comes weeks after a New York-based lawyer pled guilty to charges of partaking in an immigration fraud scheme by trying to illegally quicken asylum statuses. Kofi Amankwaa, a 70-year-old lawyer from the Bronx, had been charging asylum seekers in the city up to $6,000 in order to cheat the system through a loophole by having them claim they were victims of domestic abuse. Federal prosecutors said he faces over a decade in prison and $16 million in restitution.
Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement that Amankwaa oversaw a massive fraud scheme that undermined America’s immigration system.
“For years, Kofi Amankwaa oversaw a massive immigration fraud scheme, filing thousands of immigration documents falsely alleging that his clients were victims of abuse by their children or other family members,” Williams said.
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