Accrington sham marriages vicar jailed (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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Accrington sham marriages vicar jailed
4:05pm Tuesday 31st January 2012 in Hyndburn
GUILTY Rev Magumba
A VICAR who carried out 28 sham marriages to enable illegal immigrants to stay in the UK has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.
The Rev Canon Dr Patrick John Magumba charged £250 a time to oversee bogus weddings at two churches in Rochdale.
But the 58-year-old was caught as part of a joint UK Borders Agency and police investigation into sham marriage networks operating in Accrington and Manchester.
A number of Eastern European ‘brides’ have been jailed and their African ‘grooms’ sentenced and deported for the fake ceremonies in Accrington and Clayton-le-Moors.
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to facilitate a breach of UK immigration law.
He also admitted two counts of theft by not declaring income from weddings and funerals.
Despite earning £18,000 a year, he lied to his parishioners to cover up that he stole more than £8,345.
