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Posted
on 10-Jul-03 09:29 AM
6 Women Charged in Marriage License Scam
Thu Jul 10, 3:38 AM ET Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo!
By SAMUEL MAULL, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - Here comes the bride. Here she comes again. And again.
Six New York City women who swore they had not been married before were issued 43 marriage licenses to wed illegal immigrants so the men could stay in the United States, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said Wednesday.
Morgenthau said each woman got up to $1,000 for each marriage.
One of the women received 27 marriage licenses in Manhattan between 1984 and 2002 so she could marry men from Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Pakistan, Colombia, Mexico and a few other countries, Morgenthau said.
The woman also applied for marriage licenses in Florida, Morgenthau said, and he believes she may have gotten licenses elsewhere in the New York metropolitan area.
"I figured she should go in the Guinness Book of Records," he said.
She was among four women arrested and charged with second-degree perjury and falsifying business records, Morgenthau said. Two others were still being sought.
Morgenthau said the women, all U.S. citizens, lied on a sworn affidavit that requires them to list prior marriages. Perjury is punishable by up to four years in prison.
Morgenthau said he did not know how many green cards were issued as a result of the fake nuptials. If a client wanted a full package marriage license, green card and other documents he might pay up to $10,000, he said.
The district attorney said the phony marriage cases were referred to his office after marriage license clerks, seeing the same names and faces, became suspicious. He said he is investigating 12 other "brides" for possible involvement in bogus marriages.
Morgenthau said he was forwarding information on the cases to federal immigration authorities.
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