How the sham marriage scam worked

Alexander Success made up to £4,000 in two weeks

The investigation into the sham marriage scam - the first of its kind in Northern Ireland - was uncovered by accident.

A 30-year-old Nigerian national, Alexander Success, was stopped by police at a routine checkpoint on Londonderry's Foyle Bridge in 2006.

He produced a false passport, and when police began to investigate, they uncovered the marriage scam.

A search of Success's home in Waterfoot Park in Derry revealed computers, scanners, and a large quantity of documentation, including passports from China, Nigeria, the UK and Ireland.

They also found a range of identity documents relating to people from Northern Ireland, such as birth certificates, marriage certificates and utility bills.

A computer diary detailed how Success earned up to £4,000 in two weeks for organising the fake weddings.

How did it work?

At least eight sham marriages took place in the north west - in Derry, Coleraine and Letterkenny.

Two Nigerians and six Chinese people married local people so that they could then apply to stay in Northern Ireland.

The people who agreed to get married to foreign nationals were paid between £2,000 and £3,000.

Alexander Success would meet local men and women in their 20s in pubs and clubs and then persuade them to get involved in the scam.

Dress rehersals were held, during which couples were told to hold hands and look lovingly at each other, and they would then turn up on the day to do it for real.

On completion of the wedding, they would meet up with the Nigerians, hand over the marriage certificates and be paid in cash.

Police officers investigating the case said there was a sinister element to this.

It has been suggested that if people wanted to pull out of the sham marriages they would be told the Chinese mafia might become involved, but police don't know if the threat was genuine or not.

Police also suspected some of the people involved may have been married twice, but they were unable to prove it.

Not 'people trafficking'

Success's defence counsel said he acknowledged the seriousness of the offences and the important role he played, but this was not a case of "people trafficking" or "smuggling people into the jurisdiction".

He said the foreign nationals were already living in places like the Republic of Ireland and had used student visas.

His lawyer also said that Success was not the leader of the scam, but had met a Chinese man while studying at the University of Ulster's Magee campus who had asked him for his help.

His lawyer said Success got involved because he had difficulty paying his fees for his final year's studies.

Success was paid £1,500 for each application he made on behalf of foreign nationals.

His lawyer also said Success had not pressurised would-be brides or grooms - "all the people involved knew what they were getting into and were willing participants".