A federal investigation into the smuggling and exploitation of migrant children has led to charges against three Guatemalan nationals accused of running a “wide-ranging 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 obtain custody of unaccompanied migrant children who had crossed into the US.Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the group “took part in a wide-ranging conspiracy” that involved submitting bogus sponsor applications and exploiting weaknesses in the migrant child sponsorship system.According to prosecutors, siblings Maritbza Azucena Cahuec Coc, 38, and Carlos Agustin Cahuec Coc, 33, recruited a third defendant, Gladys Marina Caal Chen, 20, into the operation after she herself was smuggled into US and fraudulently sponsored.Federal authorities allege that between December 2020 and October 2023, Maritza and Carlos Cahuec Coc repeatedly deceived the Department of Health and Human Services’ (DHHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement by applying to sponsor unaccompanied migrant children.A. Tysen Duva, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said investigators found evidence that Maritza Coc used false birth certificates, Guatemalan consular identification cards and photographs of relatives’ identity documents to mislead officials reviewing the applications.“This was a business,” Duva said.When federal agents executed a search warrant at Maritza Coc’s home in Cleveland, Ohio, last month, they found Chen living there alongside several adults and at least four children. Pay cheques issued to other individuals, including at least one child sponsored by Maritza Coc, were deposited into bank accounts controlled by her and an alleged co-conspirator.Maritza Coc has been charged with conspiracy to defraud US, harbouring aliens, aggravated identity theft and other offences. If convicted, she could face up to 17 years in prison.Carlos Coc is charged with conspiracy to bring aliens into the country illegally for financial gain and faces a maximum sentence 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 “super-sponsor” cases nationwide. He also cited a separate case involving a Guatemalan man who was sentenced after falsely claiming to sponsor a 14-year-old girl before repeatedly sexually assaulting her.“Oftentimes, the children were abused, assaulted and certainly exploited,” Blanche said. “In some cases, individuals would sponsor multiple children, which required them to lie on to government personnel and on government forms claiming they were close relatives when in fact they were not.”“They would 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 — while only two — help explain how what was going on is really the stuff of nightmares,” Blanche said.