Ortiz said the investigation began in 2004 due to a citizen tip that was called in to the offices of Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. The operation is believed to have been running since 2001.

Tolman said this particular operation was centered in Utah and that similar operations have been uncovered in other cities, including Seattle and Los Angeles.

The Utah group seemed to target Utahns who were willing to do it for the money, while others were lured by the humanitarian effort in offering someone a better life. Ortiz said some Vietnamese customers risked ending up enslaved in prostitution or other abusive relationships, while U.S. citizens opened themselves to financial fraud.

Tom Huynh, outgoing director of the Vietnamese Community of Utah, said those charged in the fraud ring account for a very small number of the state's 4,121 foreign born Vietnamese residents.

"It's pretty isolated," he said. "Most Vietnamese are refugees or political asylees."

The investigation is ongoing and the number of fraudulent engagements and marriages is not yet known, officials said.

Tolman said several Utah residents have been identified as having taken part in the scheme but his office has not yet decided if they will be charged. Those who immigrated through the fraudulent marriages will likely face deportation proceedings, officials said.

If convicted, the ring members face up to 10 years for alien smuggling and visa fraud charges, five years for marriage fraud and a two-year minimum mandatory consecutive term for identity theft.

Tolman said the prime motive was money. "Definitely," he said, "the motive wasn't love."

---

E-mail: gfattah@desnews.com; dbulkeley@desnews.com