wmlro.com: Church's due diligence turns"I do" into "you won't"
A group of foreigners set out to scam British immigration. But their plan was foiled by an alert church official who can teach many in financial institutions a thing or two about KYC.
The two churches at the centre of the case are in primarily English districts, and so the rush of applications for marriage from Nigerians and East Europeans seemed out of place.
So the Diocese authorities looked deeper and became suspicious that some of the supporting documents were not authentic.
So they reported their concerns to the police who in turn took them to immigration who said "wow" or something similar.
And so wedding dates were set, and guests assembled at the churches. So did the police and immigration departments.
More than a dozen people are now in jail, convicted of entering into or arranging "sham marriages" for the purposes of securing UK rights of residence for themselves or others.
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