China has been running spy operations on American soil for years.
Beijing's agents have targeted everything from military secrets to advanced technology.
But a Navy Reservist in Florida just got caught red-handed selling military base access to Chinese spies for $3,500.
Chinese Criminal Ring Recruited U.S. Navy Members for Sham Marriages
Federal prosecutors unsealed a massive indictment charging 11 people with running a sophisticated marriage fraud ring targeting U.S. service members.
The Chinese transnational criminal organization recruited Navy personnel to enter fake marriages with Chinese nationals between March 2024 and February 2025.
Anny Chen, a 54-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen from New York, allegedly masterminded the scheme.
She paid Navy Reservist Raymond Zumba $10,000 cash to marry 38-year-old Chinese national Sha Xie at a ceremony in Brooklyn in April 2024.
The conspirators didn't just hold courthouse weddings and call it a day.
They staged elaborate wedding parties complete with photographers to create evidence for immigration officials.
Chen and her network recruited at least four Navy service members into the scheme.
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Petty Officer 3rd Class Jacinth Bailey was promised $45,000 total to marry a Chinese national she'd never met.
She flew to New York in January 2025, coordinated on encrypted messaging apps, then drove to Connecticut where she married the man at a courthouse.
The first time Bailey saw her "husband" was at the wedding ceremony.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Morgan Chambers flew to Las Vegas in October 2024 for her sham wedding.
She collected $10,000 in cash handed to her in a restaurant restroom.
The payment structure was designed to keep participants hooked through the entire immigration process.
Service members got $10,000 upfront, another payment when the Chinese spouse obtained a green card, and a final payment after the divorce.
Zumba told a confidential source that couples could make up to $35,000 total for participating.
The Real Target: Military ID Cards That Open Every Base
The marriage fraud was just the first step in a much more dangerous plan.
Zumba approached a confidential source in January 2025 whose spouse worked in the personnel office at Naval Air Station Jacksonville.
That office issues Department of Defense Common Access Cards.
These aren't just regular IDs.
Common Access Cards grant holders entry to military installations, commissaries, and exchanges across the entire U.S. military worldwide.
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Zumba initially offered to pay $1,500 per card for "unspecified individuals from China."
When that didn't work, he raised the offer to $3,500.
The source reported Zumba's bribery attempt to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
Federal agents instructed the source to play along.
On February 13, 2025, Zumba drove from New York to Jacksonville with Anny Chen, Hailing Feng, and Kin Man Cheok.
The source's spouse let them into the personnel office after hours and started processing ID cards for Chen and Cheok.
The next day, Zumba met with the source and handed over $3,500 for two cards.
Federal agents arrested him on the spot and recovered the cards.
Former Navy recruiter Brinio Urena pleaded guilty in August 2025 to marriage fraud conspiracy after marrying a Chinese woman for money and recruiting other sailors into the scheme.
Zumba pleaded guilty to bribing a public official in July 2025.
Bailey and Chambers both pleaded guilty in January 2026 and are awaiting sentencing.
All four face up to five years in federal prison.
This Wasn't About Green Cards — It Was Espionage
A former CIA operative told Fox News Digital the case exposed "a targeted national security threat."
J. Michael Waller said the sham marriages were designed to gain Chinese citizens access to Naval Air Station Jacksonville.
"It appears to be a targeted intelligence recruitment and collection operation," Waller explained.
This case fits a pattern of Chinese espionage operations targeting U.S. military personnel.
In July 2025, two Chinese nationals were arrested and charged with spying on the U.S. Navy and attempting to recruit service members for China's Ministry of State Security.
Yuance Chen and Liren Lai allegedly conducted a "dead drop" cash payment of at least $10,000 for Chinese intelligence in January 2022.
They visited Naval installations in Washington State and recruitment centers in California to gather personal information on Navy recruits.
A House Homeland Security Committee report released February 12, 2026 documented more than 60 Chinese espionage cases on U.S. soil since 2021.
The cases included transmission of sensitive military information, theft of trade secrets, and transnational repression operations.
China has been running sophisticated intelligence operations targeting U.S. military bases and personnel for years.
Beijing's Ministry of State Security specifically assigned agents to recruit American service members and obtain unauthorized access to military installations.
The Trump Administration has made countering Chinese espionage a top priority since taking office in January 2025.
President Trump's 2025 National Security Strategy frames migration as an "invasion vector for terrorism, drugs, espionage, and human trafficking."
The strategy declares that "border security is the primary element of national security."
That's exactly what this case proves.
China didn't need to hack the Pentagon or steal classified documents.
Beijing just needed to find a few sailors struggling financially and willing to sell out their country for cash.
The 11 defendants charged in the indictment include five American citizens and six Chinese nationals.
They face marriage fraud conspiracy charges carrying up to five years in federal prison.
Chen, Feng, and Cheok face additional bribery conspiracy charges for the military ID card scheme.
Five defendants were arrested February 3, 2026, with two more scheduled to self-surrender.
Homeland Security Investigations is still hunting for the remaining six targets.
Federal prosecutors are pursuing denaturalization proceedings against Anny Chen for obtaining U.S. citizenship through fraud.
Some of these Navy members thought they'd found easy money.
What they actually did was hand Chinese intelligence operatives the keys to America's military bases.
Sources:
- Homeland Security Investigations, "11 charged in Florida for marriage fraud scheme targeting US service members," ICE.gov, February 12, 2026.
- U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Florida, "Eleven Individuals Indicted in a Marriage Fraud Conspiracy," Justice.gov, February 4, 2026.
- Fox News, "Chinese spies 'sham marriage' scandal exposes 'targeted' national security threat at major US base," Fox News Digital, January 2026.
- House Committee on Homeland Security, "THREAT SNAPSHOT: CCP Espionage, Repression on US Soil is Growing," February 12, 2026.
- U.S. Department of Justice, "Justice Department Charges Two Individuals with Acting as Agents of the PRC Government," July 1, 2025.
