Wichita ? An unrecognized American Indian tribe has been indicted in a scheme to sell tribal memberships to immigrants by falsely claiming the documents would make them American citizens, the U.S. attorney’s office announced Friday.

A federal grand jury also indicted 11 people who worked for the Kaweah Indian Nation, including its chief, who already had been arrested and charged. The 17-count indictment was returned under seal Wednesday and revealed by U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren at a news conference Friday.

Prosecutors contend the Kaweah Indian Nation marketed tribal memberships across the nation by saying the documents conferred U.S. citizenship and would allow immigrants to obtain other documents and benefits, including Social Security cards.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs previously has ruled that the tribe’s leader, Malcolm L. Webber, also known as Grand Chief Thunderbird IV, is not an American Indian and his tribe is not an American Indian tribe.

“The Kaweah is an invention of Mr. Webber. It is not a recognized Indian tribe,” Melgren said.

Webber was arrested earlier this month and has been in jail since then. The indictment, which supersedes the earlier counts against him, charges Webber with four counts of harboring illegal aliens, one count of possession of false documents with intent to defraud the United States, three counts of conspiracy with intent to defraud the United States, one count of mail fraud and one count of producing false identification documents.

Others named in the indictment were Debra J. Flynn, 49, of Wichita; Chuck Flynn, 52, of Wichita; Raynal N. Williams, 19, of Wichita; Jorge B. Villareal, a citizen of Mexico who lives in Bell Flower, Calif.; Eduviges Del Carmen-Zamora, 44, of Wichita and a native of El Salvador; Angel O. Zamora, 39, citizen of Guatemala; Britton A. Bergman, 35, Wichita; Hector Nolasco Pena, 50, citizen of Honduras who lives in Oklahoma City; Victor W. Orvellana, a citizen of Mexico who lives in Long Beach, Calif.; Jamie Cervantes, 45, citizen of Mexico.

A court hearing was scheduled for Friday afternoon.

Melgren said he has received reports from Social Security offices, driver’s license bureaus and law enforcement agencies in Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas, Michigan, California and other states that foreign nationals are showing up with documents bought from the tribe.