SEATTLE -
The owner of the "Thai Ginger" chain of restaurants is accused of paying her workers to enter into "sham marriages" with her relatives.
Prosecutors say Varee Bradford, who operates five Thai Ginger restaurants in Seattle, Redmond, Issaquah and Bellevue, paid upwards of $20,000 each to four workers for the marriages. Prosecutors say three of the marriages were with her own relatives who immigrated to this country from Thailand.
"They were either already over here working for her, or already over here living in some other fashion or capacity," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Otake, "some of them were related to her."
Bradford was charged in federal court in Seattle Tuesday with one count of immigration fraud conspiracy and three counts of immigration document fraud.
Otake said the real victims in the case are immigrants who may want to someday get a visa in this country. She says in the past, the government has red-flagged the issuing of visas because of mass amounts of marriage fraud within a particular community.
"The victims in this case are the hundreds of thousands of people around the world who are dying to come to this country, and its disheartening for them to see this sort of marriage fraud take place," said Otake. "They are people who genuinely have loved ones here in the country, and can not come here due to the behavior of people like Miss Bradford."
Prosecutors say they've been watching Thai Ginger since 2005, and say Bradford knew they were monitoring her actions. However, prosecutors wouldn't comment on what will happen to the stores, or to the immigrants who got married. They did say that more charges could come against the Americans who took part in the alleged "sham" marriages.
Bradford denies the accusations.
Prosecutors say Varee Bradford, who operates five Thai Ginger restaurants in Seattle, Redmond, Issaquah and Bellevue, paid upwards of $20,000 each to four workers for the marriages. Prosecutors say three of the marriages were with her own relatives who immigrated to this country from Thailand.
"They were either already over here working for her, or already over here living in some other fashion or capacity," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Otake, "some of them were related to her."
Bradford was charged in federal court in Seattle Tuesday with one count of immigration fraud conspiracy and three counts of immigration document fraud.
Otake said the real victims in the case are immigrants who may want to someday get a visa in this country. She says in the past, the government has red-flagged the issuing of visas because of mass amounts of marriage fraud within a particular community.
"The victims in this case are the hundreds of thousands of people around the world who are dying to come to this country, and its disheartening for them to see this sort of marriage fraud take place," said Otake. "They are people who genuinely have loved ones here in the country, and can not come here due to the behavior of people like Miss Bradford."
Prosecutors say they've been watching Thai Ginger since 2005, and say Bradford knew they were monitoring her actions. However, prosecutors wouldn't comment on what will happen to the stores, or to the immigrants who got married. They did say that more charges could come against the Americans who took part in the alleged "sham" marriages.
Bradford denies the accusations.
