Fort Bragg soldier who played matchmaker for undercover cop guilty in immigration scam
A sergeant in the U.S. Army was found guilty for running an immigration scam that involved setting up sham marriages for migrants so they could get green cards, federal court records show.
A jury convicted Edward Kumi Anguah, who was stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, of making a false statement in an immigration matter and conspiracy to commit marriage fraud after a two-day trial.
Anguah, who is originally from Ghana, was convicted of arranging marriages between foreign nationals and soldiers in the U.S. Army so the immigrants could get legal status to live in the United States, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Raleigh.
Anguah faces up to 10 years in prison for the scam.
According to the indictment, Anguah asked another soldier to “find other United States citizens that would be amenable to engaging in sham marriages to foreign nationals” so they could get legal permanent resident status in the United States and military benefits.
The scam came to an end in January when Anguah met with a woman at a Starbucks at Fort Bragg who offered to be involved in a sham marriage. “Anguah asked the (woman) how much she wanted to charge the alien to marry her. The (woman) asked for $800 to which Anguah laughed ... and suggested she charge $2,000,” the indictment said.
But the woman was an undercover officer. Three days after the meeting, Anguah told the woman he had someone to marry her and he was going to pay $6,000, according to court filings.
Kwaphoom Eugene Hoomkwap, who had already pleaded guilty in the scheme, traveled from New York to North Carolina less than two weeks later to marry the undercover officer, according to the indictment.
Hoomkwap and two other defendants in the case pleaded guilty earlier this year, court records show.
This story was originally published December 5, 2019 at 2:58 PM with the headline "Fort Bragg soldier who played matchmaker for undercover cop guilty in immigration scam."
