Irish Wedding News
20/06/2013
A chef from Bangladesh has been convicted for organising sham marriages, the Belfast Telegraph has said.
Wahidul Islam, who has an address at Tates Avenue, Belfast, was convicted for organising the ceremonies in order to obtain UK residency permits.
Mr Islam was convicted along with a Bangladeshi workmate and his Portuguese wife on charges arising out of their marriage in June 2011.
43-year-old Islam was convicted in his absence after he failed to show at Antrim Crown Court for the final days of his trial. An arrest warrant was issued for Islam, who already faces deportation.
In April last year, the accused was arrested by police as another Bangladeshi man and his would-be Portuguese bride were about to marry in Larne, Co Antrim.
The prosecution claimed that ceremony "would have been a sham marriage, this was not a bona fide marriage", and that Islam was present in an "organisational capacity, he was the organiser".
He argued it was "pure chance" that all three marriages he took part in, including his own to a Portuguese woman half his age in the Irish Republic in 2009, involved brides from Portugal and grooms from Bangladesh.
Over two days, it took the jury five hours to convict Islam on a majority verdict.
He was found guilty of three charges involving dishonestly obtaining a UK visa for himself and two charges of attempting to assist illegal entry into the UK, by either organising or taking part in the sham weddings.
Islam's co-accused M Mostafizur Rahman, 24, and his 32-year-old wife Catia Sofia Lima, were convicted of charges arising out of their wedding.
Rahman, with an address given as Willowfield Drive, Belfast, was convicted of dishonestly obtaining a UK visa in July 2011, while his wife, with an address at Long Acre House in London, was found guilty of assisting his residency by marrying him the previous month.
The couple were remanded into custody and will be sentenced in September.
Another Bangladeshi man, Mohammad Abdur Raham, 30, of Abbey Street, Bangor, and 27-year-old Portuguese woman, Naydyne Sally Aguiar-Gomes-Botelho, of Cliftonville Road, Belfast are also to be sentenced.
They both pleaded guilty before the start of the trial to charges arising out of their would-be "marriage of convenience" which was broken up with the arrival of the police.
(JP/CD)
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Man Convicted Of Sham Marriages
A chef from Bangladesh has been convicted for organising sham marriages, the Belfast Telegraph has said.
Wahidul Islam, who has an address at Tates Avenue, Belfast, was convicted for organising the ceremonies in order to obtain UK residency permits.
Mr Islam was convicted along with a Bangladeshi workmate and his Portuguese wife on charges arising out of their marriage in June 2011.
43-year-old Islam was convicted in his absence after he failed to show at Antrim Crown Court for the final days of his trial. An arrest warrant was issued for Islam, who already faces deportation.
In April last year, the accused was arrested by police as another Bangladeshi man and his would-be Portuguese bride were about to marry in Larne, Co Antrim.
The prosecution claimed that ceremony "would have been a sham marriage, this was not a bona fide marriage", and that Islam was present in an "organisational capacity, he was the organiser".
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He argued it was "pure chance" that all three marriages he took part in, including his own to a Portuguese woman half his age in the Irish Republic in 2009, involved brides from Portugal and grooms from Bangladesh.
Over two days, it took the jury five hours to convict Islam on a majority verdict.
He was found guilty of three charges involving dishonestly obtaining a UK visa for himself and two charges of attempting to assist illegal entry into the UK, by either organising or taking part in the sham weddings.
Islam's co-accused M Mostafizur Rahman, 24, and his 32-year-old wife Catia Sofia Lima, were convicted of charges arising out of their wedding.
Rahman, with an address given as Willowfield Drive, Belfast, was convicted of dishonestly obtaining a UK visa in July 2011, while his wife, with an address at Long Acre House in London, was found guilty of assisting his residency by marrying him the previous month.
The couple were remanded into custody and will be sentenced in September.
Another Bangladeshi man, Mohammad Abdur Raham, 30, of Abbey Street, Bangor, and 27-year-old Portuguese woman, Naydyne Sally Aguiar-Gomes-Botelho, of Cliftonville Road, Belfast are also to be sentenced.
They both pleaded guilty before the start of the trial to charges arising out of their would-be "marriage of convenience" which was broken up with the arrival of the police.
(JP/CD)
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