THE ringleader of a gang that staged a sham marriage at Luton Register Office has been jailed alongside two of his accomplices.
The conspiracy was discovered on November 2 last year when UK Border Agency officers swooped on Luton Register Office as Bilal Bashir, from Pakistan, and Bozena Horvatova, from Slovakia, were about to marry.
Bashir, who had stayed illegally in the UK after his visa expired, had hoped his marriage to an EU national would aid his bid to gain long-term residency in the UK with the associated rights to work and claim benefits.
Victor Lacko, who was due to act as a witness to the wedding, and Jaroslav Husar were among the guests at the George Street West Venue. Jozef Lacko was arrested as he waited in a car outside the building.
Jozef Lacko, 45, and his close relative Victor, 37, appeared alongside Husar, 27, at Luton Crown Court. The Slovak nationals, who all live in Margate, had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to charges of conspiring to breach the UK’s immigration laws in relation to the marriage of Bashir and Horvatova.
Jozef Lacko, of Ethelbert Road, was jailed for two years and four months, Victor Lacko, of Coach House Mews, for 18 months and Husar, of Athelston Road, for 18 months. Bashir and Horvatova had both been jailed for 12 months at a hearing in February.