The jury hearing the trial of an Indian couple accused of running a fake marriage scam has retired to consider their verdict.
Registered migration agent Chetan Mashu and his marriage celebrant wife, Divya Gowda are facing multiple charges over the alleged fake marriages organised at their Brisbane home.
The couple is alleged to have organised over a dozen marriages where Indian men paid tens of thousands of dollars for their fake marriages to Australia women, to be able to stay in Australia.
Many of these brides and grooms appeared in the court as witnesses.
A pair will stand trial in Brisbane over allegations they arranged sham marriages for visa purposes. (AAP) Source: AAP
Ripan Thind, an Indian man who wanted his visa extended told the court he paid his Australian wife and Chetan Mashru $35,000-40,000.
The court heard Pradeep Singh, a taxi driver, met Mashru after his application for a visa extension was rejected. Mashru allegedly arranged his marriage with Josie Haig on March 27, 2011.
The court was told Singh promised to pay his Australian wife $30,000 over a period of two years. He paid $10,000 to Mashru on the day of his wedding who would portray a longstanding relationship between the two.
Another witness told the court that she married an Indian man to enable him to stay in Australia. She said she was financially struggling and was “desperate”. She told the court she had heard that she could make money through the alleged fake marriage scam. She said the relationship between her and the man she married was not genuine.
Divya Krishne Gowda arrives at the District Court in Brisbane, Monday, Jan. 30, 2017. Source: AAP Image/Dan Peled
Chetan Mashru is facing 50 charges, including 16 counts of arranging a marriage for a visa, 16 counts of delivering false documents to authorities and 18 counts of influencing a commonwealth public official.
Divya Gowda faces 16 charges of arranging a marriage for visa and one count of influencing a commonwealth public official.
The Brisbane District Court jury retired today to consider the verdict after over a two-week-long trial.
