A Fort Bragg soldier will be deported after she pleaded guilty to one count of visa fraud for faking her marriage to a United States citizen in order to get a green card, federal officials announced.
Maryam Movsum Hasanova, 35, originally from Azerbaijan, entered the US as an exchange visitor, however that status expired in March 2014, federal prosecutors said.
In early 2015, she met a US citizen, identified only as S.V.M. in court documents, who agreed to the sham marriage to Hasanova in exchange for $15,000. The two were married in New York in October 2015.
Hasanova and her new fake hubby submitted paperwork to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services asking that her status be changed to a lawful, permanent resident of the US. The two were interviewed at the USCIS office in New York City, where they “attested under oath they were married in good faith,” prosecutors said.
The application was granted and Hasanova received her green card in February 2017. She subsequently enlisted in the US military where she collected Military Basic Allowance for Housing at the married rate, which is about $1,000 per month, officials said.
She was indicted in June. On Oct. 20, Hasanova pleaded guilty to one count of visa fraud. An Eastern North Carolina judge ordered she be deported immediately from the United States and to pay $41,511.06 in restitution to the United States Army.
“Hasanova’s schemes to circumvent the law have failed, and now she will face accountability for her actions,” said Special Agent In Charge Ronnie Martinez, who oversees Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) operations in North Carolina and South Carolina.
“Protecting the integrity of the nation’s immigration system is of vital importance and HSI prioritizes this mission.”