A federal investigation into the smuggling and exploitation of migrant children has led to charges against three Guatemalan nationals accused of running a “large-scale conspiracy” to bring children into the country using fraudulent sponsorship applications.The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the indictments on Thursday, alleging that the three defendants used false identities and forged documents to gain custody of unaccompanied migrant children who crossed into the United States.Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the group “engaged in a wide-ranging conspiracy” that included submitting bogus sponsorship applications and exploiting vulnerabilities in the migrant child welfare system.According to prosecutors, brothers Maritbaza Azucena Cahuic Cook, 38, and Carlos Agustin Cahuic Cook, 33, recruited a third defendant, Gladys Marina Cal Chin, 20, into the operation after she herself was smuggled into the United States and fraudulently sponsored.Federal authorities allege that between December 2020 and October 2023, Maritza and Carlos Kahuic Cook repeatedly deceived the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement by applying to sponsor unaccompanied migrant children.
A said. Tyson Duva, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said investigators found evidence that Maritza Cook used fraudulent birth certificates, Guatemalan consular identification cards and photographs of relatives’ identity documents to mislead officials reviewing applications.“This was a business,” Duva said.When federal agents executed a search warrant at Maritza Cook’s home in Cleveland, Ohio, last month, they found Chen living there along with several adults and at least four children.
Payment checks issued to other individuals, including at least one child sponsored by Maritza Cook, were deposited into bank accounts controlled by her and one of the alleged co-conspirators.Maritza Cook was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, harboring aliens, aggravated identity theft, and other crimes. If convicted, she could face up to 17 years in prison.Carlos Cook is accused of conspiring to bring foreigners into the country illegally for financial gain and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years.
Chen is accused of making false statements to federal authorities during the sponsorship process and could face up to five years in prison.Blanche said investigators have identified more than 15,500 similar “superherder” cases nationwide. He also pointed to a separate case involving a Guatemalan man who was sentenced after falsely claiming to be babysitting a 14-year-old girl before repeatedly sexually assaulting her.“A lot of times, children have been abused, assaulted and definitely exploited,” Blanche said. “In some cases, individuals are caring for multiple children, which requires them to lie to government officials and on government forms claiming they are close relatives when in fact they are not.”“They will use fake or stolen identities and make other false claims during the application process in order to obtain custody of the children,” he added.“These two cases – even though they are only two cases – help explain how what was happening was actually a kind of nightmare,” Blanche said.
