Woman who recruited 'brides' for sham marriages goes on the run

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/mar/19/woman-brides-sham-marriages-run

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A "fixer" who recruited desperate "brides" at the school gates for sham marriages to illegal immigrants is on the run after failing to turn up at court for sentencing.

The Polish mother-of-four Andzelina Surmaj was given three years and eight months in jail in her absence which she will serve if or when she is arrested.

Her partner in crime, the Czech national Milan Cina, 38, was jailed for five years at Burnley crown court.

Both acted as brokers, charging illegal immigrants thousands of pounds to arrange bogus weddings to EU nationals so they could stay in the UK.

The pair admitted their part in arranging six sham marriages in east Lancashire and Manchester between December 2008 and July 2009. It is thought they could have been involved in around 40 bogus ceremonies in all.

Surmaj, 30, targeted fellow eastern European women desperate for money she met at the gates of Whetley primary school in Bradford where her children were pupils.

The scam involved already married women getting wed, with interchangeable brides and witnesses, some already related, at multiple weddings and was likened to "the plot of a bad soap opera" by one immigration official.

Surmaj and Cina themselves acted as witnesses to some weddings, and were caught on camera in the background at several ceremonies.

Passing sentence, Judge Beverley Lunt said: "It is clear from the evidence in this case that this was a well-organised commercial enterprise designed to defeat the immigration laws of this country.

"You were both responsible for arranging multiple sham marriages in return for substantial sums of money being paid by Nigerian men. Some of that money was then paid on to the Czech women who were persuaded to take part in these sham marriages."

Surmaj, formerly of Girlington Road, Bradford, West Yorkshire, who has been in the UK for 12 years, admitted assisting unlawful immigration by organising four bogus weddings.

She also admitted giving a false address at a sham wedding where she was the bride at St Peter's church in Newbold, Rochdale, and possessing a fake Czech Republic ID card.

Cina, formerly of Lister Gardens, Bradford, admitted assisting unlawful immigration by jointly organising the four sham weddings with Surmaj and also pleaded guilty to acting as a witness at another ceremony.

A warrant was issued for the arrest of Surmaj.

Concerns were first raised by local clergy at two churches, St Peter's and St Andrew's, both in Accrington, east Lancashire, in late 2009.

But once Surmaj and Cina felt the vicar was becoming suspicious they moved churches, also targeting All Saints in Clayton-le-Moors in Lancashire and St Peter's in Levenshulme, Manchester.

A "routine check" by the UK Border Agency on one suspect wedding soon uncovered an "unusual demographic pattern" of weddings in the Accrington area between west Africans and eastern Europeans.

Further inquiries revealed there were 44 "marriages of doubt" – with investigations still ongoing.

Up to now, 18 of those weddings have been investigated and 36 individuals charged with 86 separate offences.