Family of San Bernardino terrorist arrested for conspiracy
Three people with family connections to Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the perpetrators of the December 2 terrorist attack at the San Bernardino Inland Regional Center (IRC), were arrested Thursday morning on federal conspiracy, marriage fraud and false statement charges, according to Thom Mrozek with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
A five-count indictment returned yesterday by a federal grand jury charges three defendants in a marriage fraud conspiracy that involved making false statements under oath for the purpose of obtaining immigration benefits for one of the defendants, Mrozek said in the release.
Three arrested were:
Mariya Chernykh, 26, of Ontario, who according to official records, is married to Enrique Marquez, Jr., who is awaiting trial on charges of conspiring with Syed Rizwan Farook in 2011 and 2012 to provide material support to terrorists.
Tatiana Farook, 31, of Corona, who is Chernykh’s sister.
Syed Raheel Farook, 31, of Corona, who Tatiana Farook’s husband and Syed Rizwan Farook’s brother.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the indictment charges all three defendants in a conspiracy to knowingly make a false statement under oath with respect to a material fact in an application, affidavit, and other document required by the immigration laws and regulations of the United States.
The charge carries a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.
The indictment also charges Chernykh with fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents; perjury; and two counts of making material false statements to federal agents.
When Marquez was indicted by a federal grand jury at the end of 2015 with conspiring with Syed Rizwan Farook to provide material support to terrorists, he was also charged with entering into a sham marriage with Chernykh in November 2014 and illegally signing an immigration form that falsely declared he was living with her, according to Mrozek’s release.
“This is the latest step in the comprehensive investigation into the horrific attacks in San Bernardino last year that took the lives of 14 innocent Americans and deeply affected so many more,” said United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “As I have said previously, we owe the victims, and the entire community of San Bernardino, a thorough investigation that uncovers all criminal activity surrounding these events. Today’s arrests open a new phase in the process of bringing to justice all individuals who allegedly committed crimes that were uncovered during our exhaustive investigation. The charges also reflect the importance we place on statements made to law enforcement officials during a terrorism investigation. Those who lie to or conceal material information from law enforcement officers investigating terrorist acts will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The investigation into the conspiracy adds that both Marquez and Chernykh signed immigration documents under penalty of perjury that included information that they lived at the same address, when they did not. Syed Raheel Farook and Tatiana Farook participated in the conspiracy by, among other things, witnessing Marquez and Chernykh’s wedding, taking staged family pictures of Marquez and Chernykh, establishing a joint checking account for Marquez and Chernykh, and creating a back-dated lease for Marquez and Chernykh to create the illusion that they shared a marital residence with Syed Raheel Farook and Tatiana Farook.
FBI agents interviewed Chernykh as part of the investigation into the IRC terrorist attacks, and she allegedly made false statements that she lived with Marquez at Syed Raheel Farook and Tatiana Farook’s residence in Corona.
All three defendants are expected to be arraigned on the indictment Thursday afternoon in United States District Court in Riverside.
KESQ and CBS Local 2 will bring you more information as the court proceedings take place.
Background Information:
We’re learning more about 24-year-old Enrique Marquez, the man accused of buying the rifles used in the San Bernardino terrorist attack on December 2 at the Inland Regional Center.
We now know he was much more than a friend to the shooter, Syed Rizwan Farook; he was a brother-in-law.
A marriage license filed in Riverside County in November 2014 shows Marquez married 25-year-old Mariya Chernykh, who moved from Russia in 2009. She followed her sister Tatiana, the wife of Raheel Farook, who is the older brother of the gunman, Syed Farook.
On his marriage license, Marquez uses the home address of Raheel Farook, a former naval officer who at one time worked aboard the USS Enterprise. When Marquez’s wife submitted a citizenship application after getting married, it was Raheel Farook who stepped in and vouched for Marquez, saying he would have the financial means to support his new wife.
