Conveyer belt weddings

[Gob]

A south-east London vicar presided over a "matrimonial conveyor belt" of sham weddings so foreign nationals could stay in the UK, a court has heard.




The Reverend Nathan Ntege, 55, is accused of marrying almost 500 bogus couples at a church in Thornton Heath.

The Inner Crown Crown heard the vicar was the "lynchpin" of a group at St Jude's with St Aidan Church.

Mr Ntege, from Thornton Heath, denies 14 counts of facilitating a breach of immigration law and one of fraud.

Edward Lucas, prosecuting, told the court: "The weddings that form the subject of this case were neither conducted correctly or legally and their sole purpose was to facilitate an industrial-scale abuse of the system of immigration control within the UK."

Immigration officials became suspicious because of the "inordinate number" of weddings taking place at the parish church which rose from six a year to six a day, Mr Lucas said.

He said many of the marriages involved nationals from the European Economic Area marrying people from outside so they could later attempt to seek to remain in the UK.

Mr Lucas said many were introduced to the church because of its "no questions asked policy".


The Rev Nathan Ntege was inducted as a priest at St Jude's with St Aidan Church in Thornton Heath in 2002
The prosecution claim the vicar defrauded the church by not transferring £69,000 in statutory fees he charged for weddings between January 2007 and May 2011.

During the same period, Mr Ntege also transferred about £55,000 to Uganda, where he was ordained, the court heard.

Mr Lucas said the weddings were "somewhat farcical" with several brides wearing the same dress.

Six other defendants are also charged in connection with the sham weddings, including Brian Miller, 81, and Maudlyn Riviere, 67, who acted as the church verger and secretary respectively.

Ms Riviere, of Lucerne Road, Thornton Heath, denies 15 counts of commissioning a breach of immigration law, while Mr Miller, of Owl Close, Croydon, denies seven counts of the same offence.

Galina Petkova, 51, of Shrubbery Road, Enfield, and Georgia Forteath, 34, of south Norwood, were both married at the church and are accused of acting as "fixers" for other weddings.

Ms Petkova denies seven counts of commissioning a breach of immigration law and Ms Forteath denies two counts of the same offence.

Innocent Odoh, 34, of Brownhill Road, Hither Green, south-east London and Angela Palachie, 54, of Florida Road, Croydon both face one count each of commissioning a breach of immigration law and another of deception. They deny both charges.

[Big RR]

In the UK, is the person who performs the wedding required to vouch for it being done for a legitimate purpose? I think in the US all they are vouching for is that the persons identified in the license have shown up and agreed to the marriage vows voluntarily--everything else is the province of the licensing authority (although it may be different in different states).

the weddings were "somewhat farcical" with several brides wearing the same dress.


that must have been a pretty big dress.

[Scooter]

When the Unification Church performs mass weddings of thousands of couples at at time, are the resulting marriages any less farcical? Are 500 marriages performed sequentially more suspect than thousands fo marriages performed simultaneously?

[Gob]

When the Unification Church performs mass weddings of thousands of couples at at time, are the resulting marriages any less farcical?

Are 500 marriages performed sequentially more suspect than thousands fo marriages performed simultaneously?

I don't think anyone claimed they were not.

[Gob]

A 'delivery service' for foreign brides was exposed after registrars became suspicious because a couple used an iPhone app to talk to each other during their wedding ceremony, a court has heard.

One bride allegedly booked a flight to Prague within hours of tying the knot while a second couple went to KFC to celebrate their union, the jury at Manchester Crown Court was told.

Prosecutors say ten women were shipped into Britain on cross-channel ferries between September 2012 and June last year before marrying Asian students who had 'questionable' immigration status

Hamid Mushtaq, 24, and Pavlina Kratka, 28, deny conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration, as do Waqas Hussein, 25, and Blanka Farkasova, 35.

Klement Buncik, 43, who was allegedly central to the ‘trade in women’, bringing brides from the Czech Republic to the UK via ferries from Dunkirk to Dover, also denies nine charges.

The jury in the trial, expected to last three weeks, was told the brides were Czech nationals who had the right to live in the UK because they were European Union citizens.

However they were reported to the police after registrars noticed they knew little of each other and interacted awkwardly.

Darren Preston, prosecuting, said: 'This is a delivery service, but unlike a delivery you might order from Amazon, (Buncik) is delivering women.

'I’m sure there are a great many catches in this country for Czech women, I’m sure true love can be found in a very short space of time.

'We suggest it’s more than coincidence all these women who came in with Buncik found love and marriage within a very short time of landing.

'On each and every occasion registrars were suspicious, principally because the bride and groom couldn’t speak a word of each others’ language.

'I suppose in some marriages that may be a benefit, but in the majority it might get in the way.'

A number of others who took part in the conspiracy have pleaded guilty, the court heard, including a man called Avtar Singh, who had to use an iPhone app to speak to his bride at a Shropshire register office.

[rubato]

In the US they examen the couple themselves when they apply for permanent resident status for the non-citizen. There is a long grilling where the couple are separated and interviewed individually. A friend who went through it said they were pretty thorough. There is a limit to what they can achieve though.


yrs,
rubato