Daily Mail reports:
Thought to be one of the country’s most prolific sham brides, she is now behind bars serving a two-year sentence.She will be deported to her home country Portugal on her release from prison.Her scam was exposed at Harrow register office in north London.
Checks revealed De Andrade had three ‘husbands’, none of which she had troubled to divorce. The fourth groom, a 32-year-old Nigerian, was arrested with her and has been kicked out of the country.
The couple arrived at the register office on October 3 with hardly any family or friends to support them on their supposedly special day.
There were unexpected guests however – in the shape of a team of immigration officers. They pounced as the bogus ceremony was about to get under way.De Andrade, from Tottenham, north London, was charged with two counts of bigamy, two counts of facilitation and one count of perjury.
She admitted the charges in February and was jailed at Harrow Crown Court on Tuesday.The hunt is still on for her three other husbands so they can be expelled too.It is estimated that 15,000 of the marriages that take place in England and Wales each year are bogus.
In January, an official report concluded the scams exploit a ‘massive loophole’ in border controls.Non-EU citizens can acquire the right to live in Britain from any EU national staying here.
This provides a ‘golden ticket’ for those wanting to stay in the country, according to immigration inspectors.Most shams involve ‘Away Day Brides’ from Eastern Europe who come over for a few days to marry and then return to their home countries.
Most fake husbands are from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nigeria. Sarah Burton, head of the West London Home Office immigration enforcement team, said: ‘This was a cynical attempt to bypass immigration controls.
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