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Bride jailed for participating in “sham marriage” to flout immigration law (14 April 2016)

Date: 14/04/2016
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, Bride jailed for participating in “sham marriage” to flout immigration law

Wolverhampton Crown Court has sentenced a bride who took part in a bogus marriage to 16 months in prison.

On 5 February 2014, 39-year-old Gurjit Kaur – a non-European Union national – married Vladmir Gazi at Shrewsbury Registry Office.

However, the Registrar became suspicious as the bride and groom where unable to communicate with each other – the court heard that there was little interaction between them and they knew little about each other.

The police were informed and an investigation resulted in eight individuals being arrested and convicted of participating in sham marriages.

This included Vladmir Gazi and the ringleader Zafar Abbas – the gang were all jailed last year at Northampton Crown Court for a total of 16 years and eight months.

Kaur was eventually arrested and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to facilitate the commission of a breach of immigration law involving participating in a sham marriage with a European Union national.

Senior Crown Prosecutor from the West Midlands Crown Prosecution Service's Complex Casework Unit, Wendy Stevens, said:

“By participating in a sham marriage, Gurjit Kaur tried to exploit the immigration system in order obtain a residence card, which would have allowed her to settle in the United Kingdom.

“However, the Registrar became suspicious of the bride and groom and informed police, who later uncovered a well organised gang which arranged bogus weddings between non-European nationals and Eastern European nationals.

“The CPS is working with our partner agencies to tackle such illegal activities – and those caught in facilitating or participating in such scams will be robustly prosecuted.”

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