Bogus marriage duo jailed ahead of illegal immigration crackdown

Two complete strangers have been jailed for trying to stage a sham wedding.

Nigerian national Aliu Onilewura, 33, and Gisela Khan, 29, from Portugal, posed as two people called “Michael David” and “Gisela Rosa” to carry out the bogus ceremony.

In reality they lived 200 miles apart and had barely spoken before deciding to get married. Khan was to be paid 300 in return for marrying Onilewura.

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The “couple” then contacted the vicar of All Hallows, Easton, Bristol, to ask for permission to get married at his church.

The application was referred to a lawyer tasked by Diocese of Bristol to issue common marriage licences. He then contacted the UK Border Agency to verify the identity documents provided by the couple.

UK Border Agency investigators were unable to find any evidence that they were in a genuine relationship, the court heard.

Bristol Crown Court heard that Khan was already married to another Nigerian man who is wanted for questioning as part of the same investigation. It was also established that Khan had no links to Bristol and was, in fact, living in East London.

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Officers from the UK Border Agency went to Wells, in Somerset, to arrest the “couple” as they arrived for a meeting with a Church official.

At a hearing last month both admitted handing over false identity documents to church officials and at Bristol Crown Court yesterday Khan was jailed for two years while Onilewura was jailed for 18 months for fraud by false representation and for six months for possessing the false document, with the terms to run consecutively.

It coincides with a month-long crackdown on criminal gangs exploiting the immigration system.

Immigration Minister Damian Green said: “Illegal immigration is big business. At home and abroad, we are tackling highly organised crime groups who make their living by trying to exploit the immigration system and breach our border security.”

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