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Marriage fraud scheme: 11 accused of recruiting Navy sailors in sham marriage, bribery plot

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Published  February 4, 2026 5:48pm EST
Florida
FOX 13 News
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The Brief

    • A Florida man and 10 others have been federally indicted for their part in a "sham marriage" ring that allegedly helped Chinese nationals bypass immigration laws by exploiting members of the armed forces.
    • United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced the unsealing of a three-count indictment that alleges the group recruited U.S. Navy sailors to marry Chinese nationals for money.
    • Each U.S. spouse was allegedly given money at the wedding, more when the green card arrived and another payment after the divorce.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A Florida man and 10 others have been federally indicted for their part in a "sham marriage" ring that allegedly helped Chinese nationals bypass immigration laws by exploiting members of the armed forces.

United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced the unsealing of a three-count indictment that alleges the group recruited U.S. Navy sailors to marry Chinese nationals for money.

The indictment accuses the group of having weddings in Florida and several states across the country.

Dig deeper:

To trick immigration authorities, the group allegedly fabricated a loving relationship by staging photo shoots. Each U.S. spouse was allegedly given money at the wedding, more when the green card arrived and another payment after the divorce.

Authorities caught wind of the operation after a reported bribery plot at Naval Air Station Jacksonville. Navy reservist Raymond Zumba allegedly tried to bribe a personnel office employee to issue unauthorized Department of Defense ID cards for an "under the table payment."

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Timeline:

A sting operation was then launched and on Feb. 13, 2025, Zumba allegedly drove from New York to Jacksonville with Anny Chen, Hailing Feng and Kin Man Cheok.

Zumba was arrested after an hours-long meeting at the NAS Jacksonville personnel office where he allegedly handed over $3,500 for the fraudulent IDs.

Zumba and three other members of the Navy, Brinio Urena, Morgan Chambers and Jacinth Bailey, have already pleaded guilty to the charges.

The following defendants are all facing five years in prison for their involvement.

Defendants

  • Anny Chen (54, New York)
  • Sha Xie (38, China)
  • Linlin Wang (38, China)
  • Jiawei Chen (29, China)
  • Yafeng Deng (23, New York)
  • Hailing Feng (27, New York)
  • Kiah Holly (29, Maryland)
  • Xionghu Fang (41, China)
  • Tao Fan (26, China)
  • Jaden Bullion (24, Florida)
  • Kin Man Cheok (32, China)

 The case was a joint effort between Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the NCIS and the FBI.

The Source: Information for this story was provided by United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe.

FloridaCrime and Public Safety