Walking up the aisle in their wedding finery, they look like any other nervous couple about to tie the knot.
But this blushing bride has a secret camera hidden in her bouquet – and is about to expose the marriage as a sham.
Playing
her part in a TV sting operation, undercover journalist Harriet Morter
helped to reveal how easy it is for immigrants to marry Europeans for UK
visas.
Sham: Undercover
reporter Harriet Morter (right) took part in a TV sting, which involved
attempting to set up a sham wedding with her 'fiance' Ali (left), in a
bid to show how easy it is for immigrants to marry for passports
Disguise: Despite
Ali believing he was marrying to get a passport, the blushing bride had
a secret camera hidden in her bouquet to record the dramatic events
She
met her Indian ‘fiance’, called Ali, through a self-styled sham
marriage fixer who advertised her services on the classifieds website
Gumtree.
Ali
agreed to pay £5,000 to marry his British bride, while the fixer –
known only as Elizabeth – was to take a further £400. Ali even offered
Miss Morter an extra £10,000 if she would have a baby with him.
To
make their relationship seem more authentic, he hired a Rolls-Royce to
drive her to the register office and even took her shopping for a
wedding dress.
The
most difficult moment came before the big day, when the couple were
interviewed by a registrar who wanted to make sure their love was real.
Amazingly,
Ali forgot his bride’s address and couldn’t even name the borough where
she lived – but they were still allowed to set a wedding date.
The
filmmakers said the registrar, who was not named, did report his
suspicions to the Home Office but the case simply ‘slipped through the
net’.
The
sham ceremony was only called off at the last moment, when the
registrar asked if anyone present knew of any lawful impediment to the
marriage.
At
that point, journalist Paul Connolly – who was posing as Miss Morter’s
best man with his own hidden camera in his button – stepped up and
revealed they had filmed the entire process.
The pair met through a 'fixer' who advertised her services on Gumtree and Ali agreed to pay £5,000 to marry his British bride
In dramatic footage that will be shown on Channel 5 tomorrow, Ali is last seen fleeing from the register office.
Before the ceremony, he had boasted to the undercover team that he would use the marriage to get a British passport.
He
explained he had been living on a student visa, despite the fact he
never attended classes, and admitted he had been surviving on ‘cash in
hand’ work.
As the visa was about to expire, he was urgently looking for a European bride to help him stay in the country.
Ali
told Miss Morter she would be free to leave him immediately after the
wedding ceremony, although they would have to wait five years before
they divorced.
I object! But Paul Connolly, pictured
behind the couple, stopped the ceremony when the registrar asked the
congregation if anyone had any objections to the marriage
Rumbled: The journalists said they
never expected the ceremony, assuming it would be blocked by the
safeguards that are in place - but it wasn't
He
even invented a back-story to help them fool the authorities, claiming
they had met a year-and-a-half ago at Mile End tube station in East
London when Miss Morter had lost her travel card. He told his
prospective bride: ‘When I get the card, you can leave. That’s it, me
and you. If I want a passport I need only one signature, that’s it.
‘I want to make money. Why do I have to go to university? I came here to make money.’
A passport is like gold dust
Mark Rimmer, registrar at Brent Council
Interviewed
on the programme, Mark Rimmer, superintendent registrar at Brent
Council, said the number of sham marriages was ‘absolutely enormous’. He
said: ‘In London we see that possibly one in five of our marriages are
suspicious.
‘The goal is always the British passport. It is like gold dust.
‘We
had a Lithuanian girl who spoke no English marrying a Pakistani male
who spoke British and Urdu. I asked them how they communicate and they
told me “through Google translate”.’
The
journalists said they have made all their evidence available to the
police. Mr Connolly said: ‘Neither Ali nor Elizabeth are hardened
criminals. They tried to play the system, but lost.
Getaway: The groom is then seen
fleeing from the register office. It is not known whether he was
arrested or charged for attempting to set up a sham marriage
‘The
truth is we never expected to end our investigation with a sham
marriage ceremony. We assumed the road would be blocked by the
safeguards that are in place. But it wasn’t.’
It is not known whether Ali or Elizabeth have been arrested or charged for attempting to set up a sham marriage.
Earlier
this year, the Home Affairs select committee said that sham marriages
are ‘spiralling out of control’ in the UK, with as many as 10,000 fake
weddings carried out each year.
The
filmmakers refused to name the registry office or the officials who
gave permission for the ceremony because they were ‘testing the system,
not seeking to... blame individuals’.
The Sham Wedding Crashers will be shown on Channel 5 tomorrow at 9pm.
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