The US Department of Justice has charged 11 people in an alleged “marriage fraud” ring with staging false marriages for immigration purposes. An indictment released Wednesday in Florida accuses the suspects of plotting to recruit Americans, preferably U.S. service members, for marriages to Chinese nationals.
Prosecutors charge Anny Chen, 54, of New York, and another conspirator with persuading U.S. Navy service member Raymond Zumba to marry a Chinese national, Sha Xie, 38. According to court records, the couple married in Brooklyn in April 2024, while others attended a celebration and photographed the occasion. Prosecutors claimed the photos were included in immigration paperwork to convince officials that the marriage was legitimate.
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Prosecutors claim Chen, a naturalized Chinese citizen, gave Zumba $10,000 in cash during the wedding in exchange for agreeing to marriage. According to the accusation, Zumba was then urged to lure other Navy cadets into phony marriages with Chinese nationals.
However, Chen and Zumba, along with other accomplices, went one step farther, investigators alleged, by attempting to get military identification cards for the new spouses.
A “sham marriage” with possible military benefits
Prosecutors claim that once Zumba agreed to help Chen recruit Navy recruits, marriages began to proceed swiftly. Conspirators are accused of participating in such weddings in Jacksonville, Florida; New York; Connecticut; and Nevada.
According to authorities, recruiters promised a cash payment upfront, a second payment once the spouse gained legal immigration status, and a final payment when the couple divorced.
Several marriages occurred between March 2024 and February 8, 2025, when court filings show Zumba attempted to recruit someone still in the Navy. He allegedly told the source that couples can be paid up to $35,000 for a false marriage, with $10,000 up front. He also spoke with the source about obtaining military identification cards for the newlywed couples, which would grant them access to military stations, commissaries, and entertainment.
The Navy member was married, and his wife worked in the personnel office of Naval Air Station Jacksonville, which issued the cards. According to the indictment, Zumba stated that the cards would be for unspecified individuals from China and that he could pay up to $1,500 per card. According to court filings, he tried to persuade the source to furnish the cards through a series of chats by telling him that the Chinese nationals had paid for his vacation to Las Vegas and a planned trip to Miami.
According to a criminal complaint, the individual raised the price of the cards to $3,500. “I can go to any military base at any time with this card,” Chen allegedly said to Zumba in a text message during a discussion about getting the cards, adding that she could get free medical treatment and buy on base.
The source provided law enforcement with the information, and law enforcement worked with the Navy member to arrange a trade.
The source planned to meet Zumba, Chen, and others in Florida to pick up a package of military ID cards. According to prosecutors, the source turned him the cards, the defendants gave him the money, and agents detained them. This case highlights the importance of NCIS and Homeland Security Investigations working together to protect our critical military infrastructures and disrupt fraudulent methods of access,” said Special Agent in Charge Norm Dominesey of the NCIS Southeast Field Office in a statement following Zumba’s arrest.
The indictment charged U.S. citizens Anny Chen, 54; Yafeng Deng, 23; Hailing Feng, 27; Kiah Holly, 29; and Jaden Bullion, 24, with conspiracy to commit marriage fraud.
Chinese nationals Sha Xie, 38; Linlin Wang, 38; Jiawei Chen, 29; Xionghu Fang, 41; Tao Fan, 26; and Kin Man Cheok, 32, have been charged with conspiracy to commit marriage fraud.
Anny Chen and Linlin Wang are each charged with extra marriage fraud, while Hailing Feng and Kin Man Cheok are charged with additional bribery, according to the indictments.
Zumba, Brinio Urena, Morgan Chambers, and Jacinth Bailey, all former members of the United States Navy, pleaded guilty to crimes linked to the same scam. Zumba faces a potential sentence of 15 years in federal prison.
