Green Card Marriage Scam
Date: December 08, 2007Source: ap.google.com
Yuliya Kalinina spelled out exactly what she was looking for in a husband in her Internet ad: "Green Card Marriage -- Will pay $300/month. Total $15,000," the Russian national wrote in an ad placed on the Craigslist website. "This is strictly platonic business offer, sex not involved."
The ad caught the attention of the man who would eventually marry her on Feb. 17, 2006. But it also alerted agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Kalinina and her 30-year-old husband, Benjamin C. Adams, were arrested last week for what federal prosecutors allege was a sham marriage.
Robert Schoch, special agent in charge of ICE investigations in L.A., says it is the first criminal case he is aware of in which people allegedly used the Internet to engineer a sham marriage for a green card.
Attorney Dale Rubin, who is representing Kalinina, said she didn't know it was illegal to marry for a green card, which he said was evidenced by the blatant language in her ad.
Add comment
Email to a Friend
