A British crown court has sentenced three Nigerians and a Dutch national to a combined jail term of more than six years for their roles in a sham marriage scam..
Trouble started for the four convicts when the United Kingdom Border Agency officers identified suspicious travel patterns of passengers flying in and out of Luton and Stansted Airports on tickets purchased by a 29-year-old Nigerian, Mr. Adeolu Eletu, according to a statement on the agency's website.
Consequently, officers from the agency's Immigration Crime Team (East) on February 10, 2010 arrested Ms. Daniloush Solano, a 21-year-old Dutch woman, at Luton Airport as she attempted to board a flight to Amsterdam.
Investigations later revealed that earlier that day Solano had married Eletu at a church in Wood Green, London after being paid 1,500 euros.
Eletu was subsequently arrested on February 27 at his home in Falcon Brae, Livingston. His Nigerian girlfriend, Helen Omoboye, 33, was also arrested. She had been due to participate her own sham marriage at the same Wood Green venue on February 11.
A 36-year-old Nigerian, Mr. Sylvernus Ogungbade was also arrested on February 10 after officers established that Solano had boarded a taxi to Luton Airport from his home in Goldbeater's Grove, Edgware. Immigration checks revealed that Ogungbade, who was living alone, had recently applied for a visa on the back of his marriage to a Dutch woman who was still wanted by the UK Border Agency.
Last week Thursday at Luton Crown Court, Eletu, Ogungbade and Omoboye pleaded guilty to conspiring to breach the UK's immigration laws. Eletu and Omoboye also pleaded guilty to perjury charges.
Eletu was sentenced to two years and eight months, Omoboye was sentenced to 18 months and Ogungbade was sentenced to a year and eight months. Solano had pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to breach the UK's immigration laws and perjury at an earlier hearing on June 10. She was sentenced to 12 months.
Sam Bullimore, UK Border Agency Assistant Director, said, "The sentences handed out show how seriously we, and the courts, take these kinds of attempts to undermine our immigration laws.
"We will not tolerate immigration abuse and, as these convictions demonstrate, our Immigration Crime Teams are creating a hostile environment for those who break the immigration laws. We know that sham marriage rackets are not just about getting a ticket to the UK, often the offenders are also involved in other forms of criminality. If we see marriages that are not genuine, we will challenge them and prosecute where appropriate.
"People should be under no illusion that marriage is enough to get permission to stay in the UK. Couples must also prove to the UK Border Agency that they have been in a genuine relationship for at least two years."
Any foreign criminal sentenced to more than 12 months in prison for any offence is automatically considered for deportation, the website said.
