Federal authorities have arrested three people in a criminal marriage fraud investigation linked to San Bernardino, California, terrorist Syed Rizwan Farook, the U.S. attorney’s office said Thursday.
Prosecutors said the trio, along with a former friend of Farook’s, engaged in a conspiracy to obtain immigration benefits for a sibling of Farook’s sister-in-law.
A grand jury indicted them Wednesday, prosecutors said.
Those arrested were identified as Syed Raheel Farook, the brother of the San Bernardino shooter, as well as Syed Raheel Farook’s wife, Tatiana Farook, and her sister, Mariya Chernykh.
According to authorities, former Farook friend Enrique Marquez, Jr. received money to marry Chernykh to help her obtain immigration benefits.
Marquez is awaiting trial on charges of conspiring with Syed Rizwan Farook to provide material support to terrorists. He is also awaiting trial on marriage fraud charges.
There is no indication those arrested Thursday had previous knowledge of the December attack in which Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, killed 14 people, two law enforcement sources told CNN.