US based NRI couple indicted for marriage fraud

A US based NRI allegedly married his sister, while his wife married his brother so that man's siblings could evade immigration waiting periods.

An Indian man in the US allegedly married his sister while his wife married his brother as part of a "phony wedding" scheme so that the man's siblings could evade immigration waiting periods, a media report said.

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The grand jury indictment, which cites multiple counts of conspiracy, fraud and misuse of visas, was unsealed on Tuesday in a local US District Court naming Harbans Kaur Hothi, 51, and her husband, Paramjit Singh Taggar, 44, along with his brother, Gurdeep Singh Atwal, 43, and sister, Pritam Kaur, 35, as defendants.

While both Hothi and Taggar are naturalised US citizens, the brother, Atwal, who lives in Fresno, and the sister, Kaur, who lives in San Jose, had been on a fast-track programme for US citizenship when the alleged fraud was uncovered, according to a Fresno Bee report.

Assistant US Attorney David L Gappa, who is prosecuting the case, said the normal waiting period to immigrate to America from India for a brother or sister of a US citizen is 13 years. There is no waiting period for a spouse.

The indictment accuses the couple of lying about the marriages in order to have them immediately immigrate to the US from India, the report said.

According to the indictment, Hothi and Taggar were married in 1983 and divorced in January 1994. But they continued to live as husband and wife.

Investigators said the couple agreed to divorce in order to enter "into sham marriages" with Atwal and Kaur.