Chinese spies 'sham marriage' scandal exposes 'targeted' national security threat at major US base: expert

A erstwhile CIA operative says that a caller alleged "sham marriage" ungraded involving U.S. Navy sailors marrying Chinese citizens exposes a "targeted" nationalist information menace focused connected a large U.S. Naval base, perchance opening the doorway to overseas spies.

According to tribunal documents, Jacinth Bailey and Morgan Chambers, some Navy sailors based successful Jacksonville, Florida, were charged with 1 number of conspiracy to perpetrate matrimony fraud aft they allegedly accepted thousands of dollars from Chinese nationals successful bid to participate sham marriages.

Both Bailey and Chambers allegedly took portion successful a crippled wherever American citizens wed Chinese nationals for the sole intent of getting greenish cards. According to Stars and Stripes, Bailey was assigned to the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower craft bearer arsenic an aviation boatswain’s mate.

According to national prosecutors, Bailey adjacent attended a enactment aft the sham wedding successful bid to "substantiate its purported legitimacy by taking pictures to beryllium utilized for migration exertion purpose."

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The nationalist flags of the United States and China flutter astatine the Fairmont Peace Hotel connected April 25, 2024, successful Shanghai, China. (Wang Gang/VCG via Getty Images)

The crippled dates backmost to September 2024 and progressive respective different unnamed individuals who are called "conspirators" successful the indictment.

In Bailey's case, she was offered a full of $45,000 for entering into the sham marriage, obtaining a greenish paper for her "husband" and divorcing him, according to national prosecutors, including $10,000 that was offered upfront. Chambers, according to tribunal documents, was offered $35,000 for the sham marriage, which included obtaining a greenish paper and getting a divorce.

Notably, the strategy specifically preferred to people members of the subject to "join the conspiracy and wed Chinese nationals," prosecutors detailed.

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An aerial presumption of craft carriers of the United States Navy USS Gerald R. Ford and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower unneurotic successful eastbound Mediterranean connected Nov. 3, 2023. (U.S. Navy Janae Chambers/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Chambers and Bailey look up to 5 years successful situation if they're recovered guilty. Neither has entered a plea, records show.

According to Stars and Stripes, erstwhile Navy Recruiter Brinio Urena pleaded blameworthy to 1 number of conspiracy to perpetrate matrimony fraud aft marrying a Chinese pistillate for wealth successful August 2024.

In July, Navy reservist Raymond Zumba pleaded blameworthy aft prosecutors said helium tried to bribe a Naval Air Station Jacksonville authoritative to get fraudulent subject recognition cards for individuals that had links to China.

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Displayed is the authoritative seal of the Navy.  (Paul Richards/AFP via Getty Images)

J. Michael Waller told Fox News Digital that helium believes the sham marriages are an effort to summation Chinese citizens entree to the U.S. Naval Air Station successful Jacksonville, Florida.

"It appears to beryllium a targeted quality recruitment and postulation operation. At the U.S. Naval Air Station successful Jacksonville. These sham marriages, wherefore the matrimony portion was important is it would entitle the Chinese spouses to get passes to the Naval base," Waller said.

Waller said there's a wide crushed that U.S. work members are being targeted alternatively than civilians.

U.S. Navy sailors ticker a pistillate locomotion past arsenic they locomotion done Times Square during Fleet Week successful New York, U.S., May 25, 2016.  (REUTERS/Lucas Jackson)

"There's nary shortage of Americans who'll beryllium blessed to get joined for a time for $50,000 and get divorced close distant and instrumentality disconnected and pouch the money. This is simply a targeted cognition against the U.S. Naval facility. They were recruiting Navy recruiters and they were recruiting idiosyncratic whose work was aboard a naval destroyer, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer liable for anti-submarine warfare, liable for aerial defenses, and past connected a overmuch larger naval installation that has a full batch of delicate programs captious to the nationalist defense."

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The erstwhile CIA operative said adjacent if the Chinese nationals weren't trying to summation nationalist information secrets, the alleged incidental exposes a large occupation for the Navy.

"It's a immense contented for the Navy. It involves the screening of personnel. It involves the grooming of personnel, it involves discipline, and you've seen recruitment, training, and subject deteriorate successful the Navy implicit caller years. It's lone starting to travel back," helium said.