NEW YORK - Federal prosecutors have charged 11 people over an alleged decade-long operation that arranged roughly 1,000 sham marriages, mostly for Chinese nationals seeking legal immigration status in the United States.

The Justice Department announced the charges on Aug. 12. Reuters reported, citing court documents, that the operation arranged about 1,000 marriages over roughly 10 years to help mostly Chinese nationals obtain legal status.

The Associated Press reported that authorities believe the group arranged more than 1,000 sham weddings. Court papers say U.S. citizens recruited as spouses were paid as much as $30,000. Officials said the defendants charged clients up to $100,000 per green card and that the operation generated tens of millions of dollars.

Authorities described the case as one of the largest marriage-fraud prosecutions in U.S. history. The alleged operation was orchestrated from New York and primarily served Chinese nationals, according to AP.

Prosecutors allege the organizers recruited U.S. citizens, arranged staged wedding ceremonies and helped prepare immigration applications intended to make the relationships appear genuine. Participants sometimes staged photographs showing couples with apparent relatives at restaurants and other locations, according to officials.

The arrangements could be explicit. One prenuptial agreement cited in the indictment stated that “except in the name of husband and wife, both parties live independently and must not interfere with each other,” according to the New York Post, citing the indictment.

The defendants allegedly helped clients through the lawful permanent residence application process after the marriages were arranged. USCIS policy says relationships entered into for the purpose of evading U.S. immigration laws are not recognized as marriages for immigration purposes.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the alleged conduct carried consequences beyond individual immigration applications. “These schemes have real cost. They rob our country of its ability to know who should be and who should not be allowed in America,” he told reporters.