- Saturday, June 25, 2022
By: Keerthi Mohan
A MAN who allowed his partner to enter into a bogus marriage with an Indian groom has been jailed for two years and 10 months.
Martin Kovac from Wolverhampton allowed his Slovakian partner Marcela Banamova to marry Lovepreet Singh in a bogus ceremony at Stockton’s Register Office.
Neither of them could speak fluent English and they sometimes had to use Google Translate to communicate.
A registrar became suspicious of the pair and raised concerns with the Home Office.
Warrants were issued when both Kovac and Banamova failed to show up for their trials.
Prosecutor Paul Cleasby said Kovac fled Britain on August 20, 2016 despite being “well aware of the proceedings, having been served a notice”.
“He took the Eurotunnel to France and remained wanted until a UK warrant was executed on December 19.
“He remained in custody with German authorities until he was brought back to the UK on March 21.
“He has been in custody a total of 105 days.”
Judge Stephen Ashurst said: “You were party to a dishonest scam in which you allowed your own wife to go into a bogus marriage at Stockton Registry Office to a man who didn’t even share a common language.
“The purpose was to evade immigration in respect of Lovepreet Singh.
“There was strong circumstantial evidence in that you knew what was going on and financial documents related to this marriage were discovered at your home address that you shared with your children in the West Midlands.”
Singh was jailed in 2016 after he was convicted for breaking immigration law with the sham marriage.
Banamova was arrested on March 23, and remains in custody in Germany.
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