Source: Office of United States Attorneys
CAMDEN, N.J. – An Albanian national was charged with marriage fraud, and he and his wife, an American citizen, were both charged with making false statements on forms submitted to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”), U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced.
Elvis Harizaj, 25, of Cherry Hill, and Natasha Flores, 27, of Newark, were both charged with making false statements to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”).
According to documents filed in these cases and statements made in Court:
Harizaj is a citizen of Albania and entered into a sham marriage with Flores for the purpose of obtaining permanent residence in the United States. On forms submitted to USCIS, Harizaj falsely stated that he lived with Flores and Flores falsely stated that she had never been married before. Flores, in fact, had previously been married to a Brazilian national who obtained U.S. citizenship based on his marriage to Flores. In addition, Harizaj was charged with marriage fraud.
The counts of false statements and marriage fraud both have a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and a term of three years of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Habba credited special agents of Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel, with the investigation.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph McFarlane in Camden.
The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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