Three members of a bogus wedding party were sentenced at Armagh Crown Court today for attempting to cheat UK immigration rules.

All three were arrested on 1 August 2011 by specialist officers from the UK Border Agency assisted by the PSNI as they attempted to stage a sham marriage ceremony at Armagh Register Office.

Muhammad Naeem Aslam, a 22-year-old Pakistani, who was living in Armagh and had entered the UK on a student visa, was arrested as he was about to marry his bogus bride, 22-year-old Latvian Jolantea Juska.

Jana Juska 26, the would-be-bride’s sister, who acted as a witness was also arrested.

Earl Aiken, senior criminal investigator for the UK Border Agency said after the sentencing:

“This case shows the desperate lengths to which people will go by  entering into a marriage with someone they barely know to help them cheat the immigration system in exchange for cash.

“The UK Border Agency is cracking down on sham marriages and those who seek to cheat immigration laws face prosecution and conviction.”

Aslam,  who has been on remand in prison since his arrest, pleaded guilty to seeking leave to remain in the UK by deception by taking part in a sham marriage at Armagh Register Office on 1 August  2011and was sentenced to six months in jail. Steps are being taken to remove him from the UK.

Jolantea Juska, who admitted being offered £2,000 to take part in the sham marriage and that she was only doing it for the money, was sentenced to three months suspended for a year after pleading guilty to assisting unlawful immigration (facilitation) by agreeing to take part in a sham marriage and acting as a witness to a sham marriage at Armagh Register Office on 1 August 2011.

Jana Juska who admitted that she knew it was not a genuine wedding also pleaded guilty to assisting unlawful immigration (facilitation) by agreeing to act as a witness and was sentenced to three months suspended for a year.