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Azuha Izegbune |
...Four fake brides and an ex-security guard fixer involved in an eight-month sham marriage scam have been jailed.
Azuha
Izegbune, 38, was the mastermind of the visa con - which saw fake
weddings staged at registry offices in Birmingham, Stoke and Glasgow.
The
former security guard from Birmingham, West Midlands, was paid to
arrange fake weddings between Hungarian and Nigerian nationals so they
could remain in the UK.
The weddings were arranged so both brides and grooms could secure European Area Residence Cards.
Some of the grooms were flown in to the UK just hours before the fake ceremonies took place.
Following
a Home Office probe, the scam was exposed - and those involved have now
been sentenced to a total of nine years in jail at Birmingham Crown
Court.
Sentencing, Judge Elizabeth Stacey said Izegbune had undermined
the UK’s border controls and described him as 'the lynch-pin, the
organiser and the fixer' of an eight-month conspiracy between December
2012 and September 2013.
She said: 'You met
registrars, bought plane tickets, acted as witness and interpreter and
recruited Ivett Szanto to help you find Hungarian grooms and brides.
'I have read the wonderful testimonies
about you. It’s just desperately sad that you have used your
considerable charm and skills to take part in these activities.'
Izegbune is himself married to a
Hungarian and has lived legally in the UK since 2009 with dual Nigerian
and Hungarian nationality.
The father-of-two was jailed for 31 months after pleading guilty to five counts of
conspiracy to facilitate a breach of UK immigration law.
Meanwhile, Hungarian
national Ivett Szanto, 31, admitted taking part in one fake marriage
with a Nigerian man who was also seeking a visa.
She had conspired with Nigerian-born
ringleader Izegbune to help set up two further marriages with men she
knew from her native Budapest.
Szanto had her sham marriage stopped mid-ceremony on May 30, 2013, in Stoke, Staffordshire, the court heard.
Sentencing her to 20 months, Judge
Stacey said: 'Your role in this was much more peripheral. You were a
small cog in the wheel. It was Izegbune who was directing you.'
The court heard the fake brides
handed over an unknown amount of cash in a bid to win the residence
cards - which would have given them the legal right to remain in the UK
and Europe.
But two of the weddings were stopped halfway through and a price list for a £7,500 ceremony was later recovered.
It showed just a £20 budget was allocated for the wedding dress, rings and shoes.
One of the fake brides, pregnant
Nigerian Hellen Adedjumo-Dani, 31, took photos of herself with her fake
partner outside McDonald's restaurants across Birmingham to try and make
her relationship appear real, the court heard.
She had images of herself in a dressing gown on her bed and even saved her fake groom as 'Babe' on her phone.
She married her groom at a registry office in Birmingham in June 2013.
Adedjumo-Dani, who is due to
give birth in October, was found guilty after a separate two-day trial
in March of this year and was jailed for 22 months.
Nigerian
women Nwabunwanne Eze, 35, and Chioma Nwangwu, 28, both from
Birmingham, were all jailed for taking part in their own fake marriages.
Nwangu married her groom Birmingham registry office in June 2013.
Eze attempted to marry at Glasgow registry office in August 2013 - but the ceremony was raided by investigators.
She
and Nwangwu pleaded guilty to one charge of breaching immigration law
and were jailed for 16 months and 17 months respectively.
The court heard that
four members of Eze’s close family, including her own mother, were
murdered on their farm in Nigeria in 2009.
She had studied Health and Social Care at South Birmingham College after arriving legitimately on a student visa in 2010.
She
exhausted all the appeals to stay in the country and took part in the
sham marriage just before she would have been forced to leave the
country. She has since lodged an application seeking asylum.
Nwangwu worked in a bank in Nigeria before arriving in Birmingham to study at Birmingham City University in 2011.
She
returned home, but came back on a six-month visitor visa and wanted to
stay in the UK after that expired to be with her genuine partner - a
Nigerian who is legally in the country.
The Nigerian women were all warned they would face possible deportation once they complete their prison sentences.
A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing is scheduled for Izegbune to be heard in September.
Speaking
after sentencing Andy Radcliffe, from the Home Office’s Criminal and
Financial Investigations Team, said: 'Izegbune thought he could profit
from abusing the marriage system and the UK’s immigration laws.
'He
was seen by the other individuals as their ticket to either stay in the
UK, or gain financially. But all five are now behind bars.
'We
will continue to work with registrars to tackle this issue. The message
to anyone involved in this sort of criminality is clear.
'The Home Office has the resource and expertise to catch up with you and bring you to justice.'
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Adejumo-Dani |
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Ivett Szanto |
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Chioma Nwangwu |
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Nwanunwanne Eze |
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Hellen Adejumo-Dani | |
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