Mexican actress Maria Fernanda Romero Martinez marries fraudulently to apply for green card status
April 17th, 2010 - 1:07 am ICT by BNO NewsLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (BNO NEWS) – A Mexican national who has appeared in feature films and a California man whom she married were arrested Friday morning on marriage fraud charges, prosecutors said.
Maria Fernanda Romero Martinez, a 28-year-old actor and model who lives in Westwood, California and who uses the stage name Fernanda Romero, and Kent Ross, also 28, who resides in the Park La Brea district of Los Angeles, California were arrested at their respective residences this morning by Special Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). They married in June 2005, but the fraud charges allege that they entered into a sham marriage so the actor could obtain legal status in the United States.
Romero allegedly paid Ross to “marry” her on June 12, 2005, and Romero and Ross never lived together as a couple. About one month after the marriage, Romero began dating fashion photographer Markus Klinko, and they lived together for several months, but according to the complaint, they broke up, and Klinko eventually presented ICE with evidence that Romero was in a sham marriage.
After the marriage, Romero filed an application for a green card, claiming that she had entered into a lawful marriage with Ross. In support of this application, the supposed newlyweds filed several documents containing false statements, such as claims that they lived at the same address, which was never the case. Romero also filed documents containing false statements as to how long she had resided in the United States.
“This actor should have realized that posing as a bride for immigration purposes could land her a role in a real-life crime drama,” said Miguel Unzueta, Special Agent in Charge for the ICE Office of Investigations in Los Angeles. “Immigration benefit fraud is a serious crime. Not only does it potentially rob deserving immigrants of benefits they rightfully deserve, it also undermines the integrity of our nation’s legal immigration system.”
Romero and Ross are scheduled to make their initial appearances at 11:00 a.m. Friday morning in United States District Court.
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Tags: benefit fraud, california man, fashion photographer, feature films, fernanda romero, fraud charges, immigration and customs enforcement, immigration purposes, kent ross, lawful marriage, life crime, maria fernanda, markus klinko, marriage fraud, mexican actress, park la brea, sham marriage, u s immigration and customs enforcement, unzueta, westwood california