Four arrested in sham marriage operation
18 March 2011
An alleged international sham and false marriage conspiracy centring on Nottingham and the Netherlands resulted in Dutch police arresting 4 people on 16 March. Mobile phones, documents, clothing and perfumes were seized by the police during searches of addresses in Rotterdam and The Hague. Those arrested were 2 men and 2 women.
The raids in the Netherlands follow related raids in the UK on 2 March that resulted in 8 people being arrested. Six arrests were made in Nottingham – 4 men and 2 women – while 1 female was arrested in London and 1 male in Ramsgate.
One male was also arrested in Rotterdam by Dutch police on 2 March.
The operation has been led by a specialist UK Border Agency immigration crime team based in the East Midlands and has seen the arrest of the suspected organiser as well as suspected bogus brides and grooms. A 34-year-old Nigerian national man, living in Nottingham, was arrested on 2 March on suspicion of conspiracy to breach immigration law. The man is believed to have organised sham marriages between Nigerian men and Dutch women of Antilles origin with the ceremonies held at a church in Nottingham.
A sham marriage typically occurs when a non-European national marries someone from the European Economic Area, including the Netherlands and the UK, to assist them in gaining residency and the right to work in Europe.
Sam Bullimore, from the UK Border Agency immigration crime team, said:
‘Our colleagues in the Netherlands have arrested several suspects who we believe are part of an organised crime group and who attempted to breach immigration law and assisted others to do so.
‘We are committed to targeting criminal groups who profit from organising sham marriages and anyone trying to benefit illegally from the privileges of life in the UK faces prison and deportation.’
The 4 people arrested in the Netherlands yesterday, along with the man arrested in Rotterdam on 2 March, have been detained under an extradition warrant and are to be brought over to the UK to face criminal proceedings here.
One man and 1 woman arrested in Nottingham on 2 March, along with 1 man arrested in Kent, have been charged with conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and remanded in custody until 9 June.
