U.S. father, daughter detained for marriage fraud

A father and a daughter were arrested in the U.S. state of California Wednesday for their alleged involvement in a marriage fraud scheme in which Chinese nationals paid to wed U.S. citizens to obtain permanent resident cards.

Jason Shiao, 65, of Santa Fe Springs in southern California, who allegedly posed as an immigration lawyer, was arrested Wednesday morning together with his daughter, Lynn Leung, 43, of Pasadena.

After three years of investigation, a federal criminal complaint filed Tuesday alleges that Chinese nationals paid up to 50,000 dollars to enter into sham marriages in the hopes of obtaining lawful permanent resident cards, or the so called "green cards", according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

A third defendant charged in the case, Shannon Mendoza, 48, of Pacoima, is still at large.

Shiao and Leung were taken into custody by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and were expected to make their initial appearances soon in the U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

Shiao and Leung were allegedly lined up U.S. citizen "spouses" for their clients and coached the couples on how to make the marriages appear genuine when questioned by immigration authorities. Endi