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The scheme, which involved U.S. citizens being recruited and paid to marry Bulgarians, appears to have started in 1997, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin McDonald said. He would not comment on money amounts.
"The allegations are that this was a ring, a conspiracy, to engage in fraudulent marriages," said McDonald, who prosecutes white collar crimes in South Carolina.
A federal indictment charged 13 Bulgarians and 15 U.S. citizens with conspiring to arrange or participate in marriages to evade immigration laws. Nine of those charged were still being sought. More than a dozen also faced an additional marriage fraud charge.
"They did not reside together as husband and wife, and had no intention of residing together as husband and wife," the indictment states.
The marriages occurred in South Carolina, where the U.S. citizens were recruited, and Georgia, according to the indictment.
Some of the Bulgarians were arrested in Boston, Chicago, Stamford, Conn., and Portland, Maine, McDonald said.
Krassimer Simeonov, a Bulgarian, was involved in each of the arranged unions, according to the indictment.
A message left for Simeonov's attorney, W. James Hoffmeyer, was not immediately returned Thursday.
If convicted of the conspiracy charge, each person would face up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.
Many suspects appeared in court Wednesday and were released on bail, said McDonald.
U.S. Magistrate Thomas E. Rogers III was expected to hold a hearing next week to address with those who didn't appear, McDonald said.
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