Four Kenyans sent to US prison for marriage fraud
A US judge on Wednesday sentenced four Kenyans to prison for conspiracy to commit marriage fraud, marriage fraud and visa fraud.
The Kenyans, Herman Ogoti, 53, Alfonso Ongaga, 36, Andrew Mokoro, 36, and Rebmann Ongaga, 33 were all convicted on November 2013 after the conclusion of their seven day trial. Ogoti and Alfonso Ongaga were also convicted of additional charges which include unlawfully obtaining US citizenship through naturalisation.
The judge handed Ongaga and Mokoro a 16-month jail term in federal prison, while Ogoti and Rebmann Ongaga each received six months each. The judge also issued an order revoking Ogoti and Ongaga’s citizenship which was deemed to have been obtained fraudulently.
A fifth Kenyan also charged in the case, Andrew Mitema, 35, pleaded guilty to the charges as well as an additional charge of tampering with a witness. He will be sentenced on April 23, 2014.
According to the US Attorney’s office in Houston, the Kenyans recruited and paid US citizens to enter into fraudulent marriages for the purpose of receiving a Green Card or US citizenship. The defendants all entered the US on a student visa although Rebmann Ongaga’s application was denied.
United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson said that when his student visa was denied, Ongaga flew a recruited US citizen to Kenya in order to hold a sham wedding ceremony. The woman left Kenya after two days and Ongaga was able to secure a spouse visa to the US.
The authorities added that the Kenyans married recruited American citizens, most of whom were related to each other. The said that the defendants paid each recruit $5,000 (Sh435,000) to go through with the sham marriage.
The plot was unearthed in 2009 when two of the recruited women were detained at the US Passport Office in Houston, suspected of committing passport fraud.
The women were arrested on their way to Kenya “to see animals” but they did not know exactly where. Upon further questioning, they admitted they were both recruited and paid to travel to Kenya for the fake marriages with the Kenyan’s family members.
A surveillance video presented by the prosecution during their trial showed the two women entering into the passport office with Mokoro.
Last week, a Kenyan woman was sentenced to one year in jail for what a Boston judge described as “one of the most sophisticated marriage frauds in the country.”
Margaret Kimani of Worcester, Massachusetts, appeared before US District Judge John Woodcock in Bangor, Maine for sentencing.
Ms Kimani, 30, was among 28 other defendants convicted in the state of Maine for being part of a scam which saw recruited US citizens getting paid to marry immigrants so they could easily obtain a green card.
