Georgetown man pleads guilty in Cambodian marriage fraud scheme

Tuesday, Jun. 22, 201
By Karla Ward - kward1@herald-leader.com
Herald Leader (Lexington, Kentucky, USA)

A 25-year-old Georgetown man has pleaded guilty in a Cambodian marriage fraud scheme.

Justin Michael Martin was paid about $7,000 to marry a Cambodian woman to help her evade U.S. immigration laws and become a permanent resident, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release.

Martin and Phearoun Peter Em, who was also involved in the scheme, went to Cambodia in June 2004, when Martin met and agreed to marry Yota Em. Participants in the conspiracy paid for Martin's expenses on the trip, including "sexual services from a Cambodian female," according to the release.

Yota Em entered the U.S. on a K-1 visa, representing herself as Martin's fiancee, in September 2005. They were married in a civil ceremony in Lexington on March 5, 2007, but the marriage was never consummated, the DOJ said. Em and Martin were divorced on June 30, 2009.

Yota Em is currently a fugitive.

Martin pleaded guilty to marriage fraud and conspiracy to commit marriage fraud. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

Magistrate Judge James D. Moyer of U.S. District Court in Louisville has ordered a pre-sentence investigation, and a sentencing date has not been scheduled, the news release stated.

23 federally indicted in Cambodian marriage scam

April 13, 2010
By Andrew Wolfson
Courier-journal.com (Louisville, Kentucky, USA)

The lure: up to $10,000 in cash and an all-expenses paid trip to a beach in Cambodia.

For the men, throw in a free trip to a Cambodian brothel; and for the women, discounted nail service at salons back in Louisville.

The mission: Marry foreign-born Cambodian nationals so they could win permanent resident status in the United States.

In an indictment made public Tuesday, a federal grand jury in Louisville has charged that 20 U.S. citizens took the bait, including residents of Louisville, Lexington and Georgetown. In all, 23 people were arrested in three states and charged with conspiring to orchestrate more than a dozen bogus marriages and attempted unions.

As part of the elaborate plot, the recruited Americans and their Cambodian fiancées were photographed frolicking in hotel rooms, at beaches and at tourist attractions in Cambodia, where they were instructed to frequently change attire to give the appearance of multiple meetings during long-term relationships, the indictment charges.

The American brides and grooms were paid $1,000 to $5,000 to get engaged, then a matching amount when they tied the knot in civil ceremonies back in Louisville.

The organizers plied one groom — identified in the indictment as Donald McKinley Martin, 27, of Georgetown, with sexual favors at a Cambodian nightclub, offering him two young women identified as virgins.

When one of the would-be brides, Sharon Lee Spalding, 44, of Lexington, got cold feet about marrying upon her return to Kentucky, according to the indictment, one of the organizers, Vuthea Niev, alias “T,” 57, of Prospect, allegedly threatened to kill her.

She eventually wed Chok Chan, 49, who now lives in Mount Sterling, and they both swore the marriage was legitimate, but they later divorced, as did they other coupes who wed, the indictment states.

It charges that the conspiracy spanned 10 years and didn’t end until last week.

In a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Louisville, John Morton, the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistant Secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the agency “will not tolerate those who facilitate, arrange, or profit from sham marriages to criminally exploit our nation’s generous immigration system.

“Marriage fraud results in an illegal shortcut to U.S. citizenship and poses a concern to our national security,” he said. “All of those involved in these false marriages will be held accountable.”

The indictment charges that Americans were recruited for the scheme at nail salons owned by the organizers, including “Pretty Nails,” “Tiffany Salon and Spa” and “Pristine Nails,” and were promised cut-rate service for participating.

Recruits were then urged to recruit others, and eventually 20 were drawn into the scheme, including a dozen who weren’t charged and are identified in the charging document by their initials.

The maximum penalties for most counts in the 10-count indictment are five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The defendants will appear for arraignment on dates to be set in Louisville and elsewhere.

The others charged as organizers of the alleged scheme were Michael Chanthou Chin, 39, of New Albany; Patrick Theng Chea, 45, of Louisville; Steve Sovan Uy, alias Sovan Oum, 43, of Nashville; Phearoun Peter Em, alias Sophea Lim, 22, of Sellersburg, Ind.; and Monirath Em, alias Angel, 32, of New Albany.

Niev is a U.S. citizen and the others are Cambodian-born naturalized U.S. citizens, according to the indictment. None of them could be reached for comment.

The other U.S. residents charged with participating or attempting to participate in fraudulent marriages were Jeremy Dickson Carmickle, 38, Christopher William McAlister Sr., 52, Christopher William McAlister Jr., 25, Stephanie Jean Murphy, 31, and Asaad Abdulrazak Alkinani, 39, all of Louisville; and Justin Michael Martin, 25, of Georgetown.

Other Cambodian nationals charged were Borin Chum, 29 and Yota Em, 24, and Sangha Srey, 49, of New Albany; Sina Ros, 38, of Houston; Huong Sreng, 35, location unknown; Sona Ngov, 29, of Corydon; and Nary Bun, 28, of Louisville.

The defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit marriage fraud, while some are also charged with marriage and visa fraud, said U.S. Attorney Candace Hill.

Reporter Andrew Wolfson can be reached at (502) 582-7189.

South Korean man charged over Cambodian marriage fraud

May 20, 2009
DPA

Phnom Penh - A Cambodian court on Tuesday charged a South Korean man with falsifying official documents as part of an alleged scheme to broker marriages between Cambodian women and South Korean men, national media reported Wednesday.

Police arrested Lee Kyung Jun, 40, Monday in Phnom Penh after another South Korean man accused him of supplying false marriage certificates, the Cambodian Daily reported.

An Interior Ministry official said Lee was accused of supplying at least 14 false marriage certificates to the man, who owns a marriage agency, at a cost of 500 dollars per person.

The official said the certificates carried the signature of a provincial administrator but were proven to be falsified after the recipient checked their authenticity with the administrator.

The ministry did not say whether the complainant's marriage service was a legal business.

Lee was detained by the Interior Ministry while officials decided whether to release him on bail.

The government in November enforced a temporary ban on marriages between Cambodians and foreigners after an International Organization for Migration report claimed a high number of local women were being married to South Korean men through illegal agencies.

The ban was lifted in January.