Jamaican jailed in UK over marriage fraud scheme

Verona Walters, 33, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to breach UK immigration law in Birmingham Crown Court.

(File photo)

LONDON, England, November 27, 2009 - A Jamaican national will have to spend the next year in jail in the United Kingdom for participating in an immigration marriage fraud scheme.

Verona Walters, 33, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to breach UK immigration law in Birmingham Crown Court.

She was arrested on September 16th at a Wolverhampton training centre as part of a joint operation by the West Midlands police and the UKBA immigration crime team.

The UK Border Agency labeled the marriage for residency scheme as an organized and serious attempt by the perpetrators to facilitate illegal entry into Britain, with all of those involved seeking either personal profit or a UK passport.

Walters was one of five Jamaican women arrested in a series of raids across the Black Country and Birmingham as part of a larger, ongoing investigation into the proliferation of marriages of convenience, or sham marriages.

The fake weddings usually involved payment in drugs or cash and came complete with fake guests, rings, clothes and photographers. Most of the couples had no further contact after their marriage.