Nigerian pastor arraigned for ‘arranging’ 60 fake marriages in the US in 7 years

A 50-year-old Nigerian pastor based in the United States, Joshua Olatokunbo Shonubi, has been indicted before a federal grand jury for allegedly arranging over 60 fake marriages for immigrants to enable them get resident permits.

Pastor Shonubi, the Senior Pastor of New Life City Church, Inc. in Hyattsville, Maryland, was also on Friday, charged with “conspiracy to commit marriage fraud, visa fraud and for presenting false documents to a federal government agency, in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain permanent resident status for foreign nationals by arranging marriages to U.S. citizens.”

The indictment of Shonubi was announced by the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, Erek L. Barron, and he is expected to have an initial appearance in the U.S. District Court in Baltimore before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Mark Coulson.

The seven-count indictment was handed down to the suspect from at least January 2014, through January 2021, indicating that he engaged in a conspiracy to fraudulently obtain immigration benefits for foreign nationals by arranging their marriages to United States citizens who served as their sponsors for permanent residence in the United States.

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The indictment alleges that Shonubi received thousands of dollars from foreign nationals in exchange for connecting them with U.S. citizen sponsors and facilitating their marriages.

The indictment also alleges that Shonubi, “often utilizing his role as pastor of New Life Church, directly or through others, recruited and groomed U.S. citizens, including economically disadvantaged citizens, with payments and promises of money in exchange for marrying foreign nationals, then sponsoring the foreign nationals for permanent residence in the United States through USCIS.”

“In addition to officiating these fraudulent marriages, the suspect also wrote reference letters for foreign nationals’ permanent residency applications on New Life Church letterhead, lying about his relationship to them. The pastor also gave false testimony regarding his counseling and spiritual guidance, as well as the arranged couples’ romantic relationship,” part of the indictment reads.

If convicted, Shonubi faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit visa fraud and marriage fraud and a maximum of five years in federal prison for each of six counts (30years) of presenting false documents to a federal government agency.

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