Nepalese Man Pleads Guilty to Marriage Fraud Charges

Bangor, Maine:  United States Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced that Eilove Shrestha, 28, recently of Cupertino, California, pled guilty today in U.S. District Court to marriage fraud and to conspiracy to commit marriage fraud.

According to court records, on June 20, 2018, Shrestha, a Nepalese citizen then lawfully in the United States in a temporary status, agreed to pay a United States citizen $13,000 to marry him so he could obtain permanent resident status, also known as, a “green card.”  Four days later, Shrestha flew to Maine and the two were married the next day.  Before and after the wedding, Shrestha paid the United States citizen hundreds of dollars via wire transfers, while he continued to live and work in another state. 

Shrestha faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.  He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S Probation Office.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the Brewer Police Department.