"Many Photos" - Lithuanian fighter who took part in a sham marriage scam avoids jail

Mixed martial arts fighter Erika Vorobjova, 27, pictured outside the Old Bailey in London yesterday, was given a suspended sentence

A Lithuanian mixed martial arts fighter who took part in a sham marriage scam which saw couples use Google Translate to communicate during wedding services has avoided jail.

Erika Vorobjova, 27, of Walworth, South East London, admitted taking part in a marriage of convenience with Pakistani national Uzair Ahmed in October 2013.

The bogus bride was the last gang member to be sentenced after admitting assisting unlawful immigration three days into her trial - but only received a suspended jail term at the Old Bailey.

The matchmakers arranged for Asian men to meet Eastern European brides who could rarely speak to each other - and during the nuptials they used the app before exchanging their vows.

The gang, led by Sainsbury's staff Ayaz Khan, 33, and wife Jurgita Pavlovskyte, 26, arranged at least 13 fake weddings and made at least £500,000 from them.

They used photographs of the 'happy couples' with forged job offers to convince officials to grant residency to grooms from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.

Khan, from Pakistan, ran the groom side of the business, while his Lithuanian wife was responsible for finding the brides.

Vorobjova's barrister said the promising fighter pleaded guilty very late on 'because she was petrified of the consequences' after moving to the UK five years ago speaking no English

The grooms - 11 from Pakistan, one from India and one from Bangladesh - were all 'desperate' to stay in the UK after their student visas expired.

Khan was jailed for six years in April last year while Pavlovskyte, who was then 37 weeks pregnant, was given five years. 

John Dye, defending Vorobjova, said the promising fighter pleaded guilty very late on 'because she was petrified of the consequences' after moving to the UK five years ago speaking no English.

Handing Vorobjova a suspended prison sentence Judge Mark Lucraft, QC, said: 'In April 2018 Judge (Rebecca) Poulet QC sentenced Ayaz Khan, Jurgita Pavlovskyte and several others who between 2011 and 2015 operated a conspiracy to assist in the unlawful immigration of non-EU nationals in the UK for profit.

'The system involved the pairing of male Pakistani nationals to female Lithuanian females for the purpose of what is called a sham marriage or a marriage of convenience.

'As Judge Poulet noted, I note too, a genuine marriage to an EU national who is living in the UK can confer permanent residence on the non-EU national spouse.

'These marriages therefore ostensibly permitted the male non-EU national to apply for a residence card in the UK by reason of their marriage to an EU national.

'This process involves satisfying the Home Office that the EU national is exercising their treaty rights.

The gang, led by Ayaz Khan (left), 33, and wife Jurgita Pavlovskyte (right, both pictured last February outside the Old Bailey), 26, arranged at least 13 fake weddings and made at least £500,000 from them. They were jailed for six years and five years respectively last April

'If the application is granted the residence card gives the successful applicant the right to live and work in the UK.'

Earlier this week fake husbands Zia Uddin, 34, and Ameen Ul Haq, 31, were jailed for 18 months and two-and-a-half-years respectively.

Uddin was convicted of seeking to secure the avoidance of an enforcement action following a separate trial this month.

Fake husband Zia Uddin (pictured outside the Old Bailey last February), 34, of Ilford, East London, was jailed at the court for 18 months

Ul Haq failed to attend the trial and was convicted in his absence of an identical offence in addition to obtaining leave by deception.

His current whereabouts are unknown. Both are expected to be deported as a result of their sentences.

The court heard that the applications by the grooms were almost always successful, if not in the first instance then on subsequent appeal.

Khan and Pavlovskyte facilitated the commission of a series of at least 12 breaches over a period of nearly four years.

Many of the 'desperate' Pakistani grooms were Sainsbury's co-workers of his and subject to severely time-limited visas or were already over stayers.

Khan assisted with the wedding arrangements, preparing the brides for interviews at the registry office and supporting documents for any subsequent applications.

He and Pavlovskyte, herself a Lithuanian national, 'provided a full service to those who wished to obtain residence in the UK which would in turn entitle them to the opportunity to work and live in the UK and claim benefits if necessary', the judge said.

Both 'regarded this as a business and referred to it as such'.

'In each case the offences were motivated commercially and not by humanitarian considerations,' Judge Lucraft said.

'The two of them received payment transfers into their accounts from the grooms and then took out at least £330,000 in cash from their accounts.

'On the figures they netted at least £500,000 in a three-and-a-half-year period and probably a great deal more. It is clear the brides received money for their compliance.'

Many of the bank transfers from grooms were given the references 'wife' or 'wedding'.

The 13 sham marriages included those between Imran Farooq and Diana Stankevic and Muhammad Saqlain and Tatjana Rolic, 30.

Stankevic flew home to Lithuania the day after her marriage to Farooq, having already signed his application for UK residence. She returned to the UK three months after he sent it in to the Home Office.

Saqlain, who came to the UK in 2009 to study for an MBA, married Rolic on 9 February 2013 - nine days before his visa was due to expire.

His flatmate, Bangladeshi Mohammed Faisal, married Rolic's sister Aliona Ovcankova. Both women had flown from Lithuania to the UK on the same day.

The gang insisted the marriages were all genuine and denied knowledge of plot to get around immigration rules.

Uddin, of Ilford, was jailed for 18 months. Al Haq, of Dagenham, was jailed for two-and-a-half-years in his absence.

Vorobjova admitted assisting unlawful immigration and was given a 16-month custodial sentence suspended for two years.

Khan, of Ilford, was convicted of conspiring to assist unlawful immigration and jailed for six years in April last year.

Pavlovskyte, of Barking, was jailed for five years while Stankevic, of Hounslow, and Saqlain, of Slough, Berkshire, were both jailed for three years for the same offence.

Khan and Pavlovskyte were also found guilty of acquiring and converting criminal property relating to payments made for organising the sham weddings.

Farooq, also of Hounslow, was cleared of playing any part in the conspiracy but convicted of a lesser alternative of deceitfully applying for a residence card and jailed for 18 months.

Saqlain and Sheikh Ahmad, of Brockley, were convicted of securing or seeking to secure the avoidance of enforcement action by acting as grooms in the weddings and jailed for 18 months.

Fake brides Rolic, of Ilford and Bartosevic, of Brockley were each handed 18-month prison terms suspended for two years.

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News Photo Lithuanian fighter who took part in a sham marriage scam avoids jail
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