Four former U.S. Navy servicemembers, including Raymond Zumba, Brinio Urena, a former recruiter, Morgan Chambers, and Jacinth Bailey, have all pleaded guilty in a Jacksonville federal court to roles in a marriage fraud conspiracy that was aiding the People’s Republic of China (PRC), in the sort of thing that many Americans see as essentially being treasonous.
According to documents from the DOJ, these sailors allegedly entered or facilitated sham marriages with Chinese nationals for cash payments, up to $45,000, to help obtain green cards, evading immigration laws. Zumba additionally pleaded guilty to bribery, attempting to pay $3,500 for unauthorized DoD ID cards at NAS Jacksonville for Chinese-linked individuals.
Breaking down the situation, U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe wrote how “The indictment alleges the above-named individuals allegedly engaged in a conspiracy to recruit United States citizens, preferably members of the armed forces, to enter into sham marriages to Chinese nationals for the purpose of evading immigration laws and illicitly obtaining lawful permanent resident status for the Chinese nationals.”
Apparently, the complicated scheme involved “The conspirators [who] had agreed to a payment plan whereby the United States citizen spouse would receive a cash payment up front for marrying the Chinese national, a second payment when legal immigration status was obtained, and a final payment after the divorce.”
One of the men named in the indictment was involved in a deeper capacity. “Zumba… offered to bribe the source and the source’s spouse who worked at Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville in the personnel office… to issue real, but unauthorized ID cards for an under-the-table payment… Zumba met with the source, who gave him two cards in exchange for $3,500,” the DOJ revealed.
Offering more context, Kenhoe noted, “The center of this entire scheme is an individual named first in the indictment, Annie Chen. Annie Chen was the organizer of this conspiracy to marry Chinese nationals,” in a recent press release, adding, “It [the scheme] jeopardizes the safety and security of our military facilities.”
President Trump is one of the few politicians who’ve accurately identified the threat China poses to America. Speaking during his first presidency, he said, “They’ve ripped off the United States like no one has ever done before,” adding how the CCP has “raided our factories” and “gutted” American industry. He also noted that China invests countless millions into “espionage to steal our industrial secrets, of which there are many.”
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Speaking later, he also noted how this espionage happens. “The PRC authorities use some Chinese students, mostly post-graduate students and post-doctorate researchers, to operate as non-traditional collectors of intellectual property,” he noted.
Building on this point, the document added, “Thus, students or researchers from the PRC studying or researching beyond the undergraduate level who are or have been associated with the PLA are at high risk of being exploited or co-opted by the PRC authorities…”
Returning to the source of the issue, he wrote, “The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is engaged in a wide‑ranging and heavily resourced campaign to acquire sensitive United States technologies and intellectual property, in part to bolster the modernization and capability of its military, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).”