A sham marriage gang have been jailed after they were busted holding a ceremony in Northern Ireland where the bride and groom could not speak each other’s languages.
French woman and wedding witness Massiame Bamba, 45, of Devenport Road, Shepherd’s Bush , was given six months, suspended for three years at Downpatrick Crown Court in County Down yesterday (January 12), after pleading guilty to breaching UK immigration law.
Home Office investigators stopped a wedding in its tracks on December 19, 2013, where Cameroon national Dominic Nartey, 29, of Cardiff, whose visa was about to expire, admitted it was a sham and that he had met his ‘bride’, French national Fatou N’Diaye, for the first time that morning. Neither could speak each other’s language.
The court heard all three, plus three co-conspirators, planned to set up a sham marriage between N’Diaye and Nartey and N’Diaye admitted she knew the proposed wedding was a sham and that she was being paid for her role as a bogus bride.
The six-strong gang, made up of French and Cameroon nationals, were each charged with conspiracy to facilitate a breach of UK immigration law and Nartey also faced an additional charge of possessing an identity document with improper intent.
Nartey pleaded guilty and was jailed for two years on the conspiracy charge and a further one year for the identity fraud charge, to be served concurrently. He remains in immigration detention pending his removal from the country.
N’Diaye, 26, of New Cross in south London, was jailed for six months.
Immigration and security minister James Brokenshire, said: “These sentences send a clear message to the criminals who think they can cheat our immigration laws. Our specialist teams will catch you, and you will be brought to justice.
“Last year, we intervened in more than 1,300 sham marriages – more than twice as many as the year before. We are making it even harder for criminals by building a system that is fair to British citizens and legitimate immigrants, and which cracks down on those who flout the rules.
“The new Immigration Act is also making it even tougher for fraudsters by extending the marriage and civil partnership notice period — giving officers and registrars longer to investigate suspicious marriages.”
Two out of the three other co-conspirators Cameroon nationals Elvis Asaah, 30, of Newport, and Joseph Movuh Vutung, 37, of Manchester were jailed for seven months each.
Ivory Coast national Ben Ahmed Doumbia, 36, of Woolwich, failed to appear at court and a bench warrant has been issued for his arrest.
