Fake-marriage racket busted
2008-06-09 17:02
Madrid - Spanish police said on Monday they had busted a group accused of arranging marriages of convenience in a €4m racket to help Nigerians gain residency permits in the country.
Police detained 16 Spanish and five Nigerian suspects suspected of arranging more than 400 marriages since 1999, mostly for Nigerians, operating in Castellon, eastern Spain, the force said in a statement.
The network paid Spanish nationals to marry undocumented Nigerian immigrants who paid €10 000 for the marriage, it said. The network took €7 000 of this and gave €3 000 to the Spanish spouse.
The racket raked in an estimated €4m over the past nine years, the police said.
Sometimes a member of the ring would steal the identity of another Spaniard and take part in a wedding ceremony, while others posed as witnesses and guests, it added.
The group also forged identity documents.
- AP