GARDAI PROBE ‘970 SHAM MARRIAGES’

GARDAI are investigating 970 suspected sham marriages among foreign nationals.

The operation comes as officers smashed an elaborate criminal network that set up around 2,100 fake marriages between non-irish EU citizens and mostly Asian men between 2011 and 2015.

Gardai are now spearheading a European probe as they battle criminal groups using vulnerable women to sell EU residencies.

They are on the trail of hundreds of “grooms” coming mainly from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

Around 500 of the EU women are from Portugal while many others have come from Latvia, Estonia, and Slovakia.

The Garda National Immigration Bureau estimated 16 Irish-based criminals made around €20million from the marriages with each one costing around €17,000.

The Sunday Independent said the women were paid around €3,000 with many arriving in the country for the ceremony before leaving the next day.

The services also saw “couples” coached on how to convince registrars they were genuine.

Those who sourced the women are expected to face trafficking charges while the “brides” may also face prosecutions.

Gardai first launched the crackdown in 2015 with Operation Vantage so far seeing the deportation of 77 people. Over 100 arrests have also been made. Last week, a student garda resigned from the college after he was found to be in a sham marriage to get citizenship. The 31-year-old Bangladeshi began training in Templemore last year after passing through the selection process.

Garda National Immigration Bureau later found he had allegedly faked his citizenship.

A source told the Mirror: “Detectives believe that he and his friend, also a foreign national, had married two Lithuanian women a number of years ago.

“They paid upwards of €15,000 each and this marriage then allowed them to get EU citizenship.

“It is believed the two women were also in a same-sex relationship together.

“When they were doing the due diligence in the selection they didn’t uncover anything in regard to offences at home. He passed all the tests and was well liked in Templemore.”

GNIB investigators are now investigating all four people and a file is being prepared for the DPP.

Irish crime gangs made €20million from sham marriages