Dearborn, Michigan–An immigration fraud ring helping Middle Easterners obtain U.S. citizenship illegally has been dismantled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and its ring leader sentenced to prison.
Hussein “Sam” Nazzal pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States after his efforts to broker three separate false marriages between U.S. citizens and Lebanese nationals, for the purposes of obtaining U.S. immigration benefits, was disrupted by U.S. authorities. Nazzal, a development company operator, admitted to using one of his restaurants to operate the criminal enterprise. Two of the other people involved have been convicted, and an additional two have been deported back to Lebanon.
Nazzal has also been convicted and is awaiting sentencing for multiple counts of bank fraud, commercial bribery, and obstruction of justice, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
According to court documents, law enforcement also alleges that several U.S. citizens agreed to accept money or other valuable items from Nazzal in exchange for their willingness to marry Lebanese nationals and deceive U.S. immigration authorities. Nazzal then reportedly falsified documents and other items to give U.S. authorities the belief the marriages were real and above board. The court documents also state that Nazzal used the threat of physical force to dissuade at least one of the individuals involved from cooperating with U.S. authorities once an investigation was launched.
Breitbart News has provided the official court documents below.
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