A 44-year-old Portuguese woman has been extradited to Cyprus as she is a suspect in a sham marriage scheme involving 133 fake unions.
The operation, which had Cyprus at its heart, also implicates the woman’s husband, a 44-year-old man currently wanted in Pakistan, who is believed to be the orchestrator of the network.
The woman, accused of recruiting brides from her home country and facilitating their travel to Cyprus, has been taken into custody following a decision by the Larnaca District Court.
She faces multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit a felony, participation in an illegal organisation, involvement in and acceptance of the commission of crimes, money laundering, deceitful marriage, and forgery.
Her arrest on January 29 in Portugal was part of a broader Europe-wide operation, prompted by testimonies from Portuguese women who identified her as the key figure in their recruitment for sham marriages in Cyprus.
Some of these brides revealed that the suspect not only recruited them but also managed their payments and occasionally escorted them to Cyprus.
Further investigations by Cypriot authorities unveiled that the suspect had received payments exceeding €20,000, sourced from both the scheme’s primary suspects and the grooms involved.
Under interrogation, the woman admitted her role in sourcing brides from Portugal to marry them off in Cyprus, attributing her actions to financial exploitation by her husband.
Read more:
