Jagjit Singh: Blacktown sham marriage ringleader avoids jail
The head of an elaborate fake marriage scheme which was linked to 160 sham visa applications has been sentenced after entering a last minute plea. The 33-year-old sourced brides, arranged sham family photos and even stockpiled rings.
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The ringleader of a fake marriage syndicate recruited sham brides, arranged ‘family photos’ and even stockpiled rings at his Blacktown home.
Indian national Jagjit Singh, 33, recruited Aussies to enter into sham marriages with foreign citizens to help them get permanent residency.
Last month he was sentenced to three years’ jail in the District Court after admitting to setting up four sham marriages between 2013 and 2015.
However, he will service his sentence in the community.
Singh was arrested in October 2018 after Border Force officers cracked the elaborate operation, which was linked to more than 160 sham visa applications.
The practising Sikh, who is a regular at Glenwood temple, faced up to a decade behind bars as the head of the scheme.
He entered an 11th hour guilty plea to two charges of arranging a marriage with the intention of assisting another to obtain a visa in November last year.
According to police, Singh worked with marriage celebrants and migration agents to facilitate four marriages between Aussies and Indian citizens for the purposes of aiding them in securing visas.
The court heard Singh sourced Australian citizens to take part in the sham marriages, running the syndicate like a pyramid scheme to recruit more participants.
Court documents showed that Singh offered a payment of $6000 to one Aussie bride in May 2013, paying her $1000 cash in $50 notes at a sham ceremony, complete with rings and an exchanging of vows.
The same month, police sourced text messages sent by Singh to intermediary Suzanne Akkari, offering payment in exchange for a willing bride:
“If you really need money can you arrange any girl for marriage then I can able to give you money”.
He also texted: “Okay, I give you total $6000. You have to pay $3000 to girl and $3000 for you …. And then the guy paying to girl $1000 every month until 18 month”.
In December that year, Singh arranged another sham marriage, paying the Aussie groom $3000 and his Indian national bride $2000, before taking them to a Blacktown migrant agent and helping the couple set up a joining bank account.
The following month, Singh enlisted the help of Central Coast woman Jordan Lee Evans, 25, in sourcing more brides.
Singh offered to pay the bride $2,000 on the day of the wedding for her participation and $1,000 per month, with a requirement that the pair stay married for 18 months.
In arranging a fourth marriage in February 2015, Singh and Evans met with another bride in Sydney to buy a wedding dress, before taking her to the groom’s house for family photos prior to the ceremony.
Police raided Singh’s Blacktown address in October 2015, seizing eight wedding rings and related documents.
Singh has denied receiving payment for his role in the syndicate.
“The offender maintained during his evidence that he did not receive any payment for arranging the marriages,” Judge Dina Yehia said.
“Initially he gave evidence that he was not aware that the conduct was illegal at the time.
“However, he later agreed that he knew that what he was doing was both dishonest and illegal.”
The court heard that while Singh had spent his own money in arranging the marriages, he did not cover payments to the intermediaries and marriage participants seeking the visas.
Judge Yehia did not find that Singh received an overall financial benefit from the scheme.
“At first blush, the assertion that the offender did not obtain a financial benefit in exchange for arranging the marriages lacks credibility,” she said.
“Suspicion is not sufficient to establish an aggravating factor … I do not find that the offender obtained a financial benefit.”
In sentencing, Judge Yehia said Singh’s role was “crucial” to the criminal enterprise.
“The offender’s role is more serious than that of the intermediaries such as Jordan-Lee Evans, she said.
“The offender was in a more senior position.
“He demonstrated a degree of autonomy and decision-making in arranging the marriages, including co-ordinating the tasks that had to be undertaken such as advising on what to wear, the photographs to be taken and conveying the participants to the premises of marriage celebrants and offices of migration agents.”
Police have not charged any marriage celebrants or migration agents, with investigations still ongoing.
He will serve his sentence in the community after being released under a recognisance release order.
He was also ordered to pay $1000 and to be of good behaviour for the duration of his sentence.
Evans and Akkari were both sentenced to 18 months’ jail on prior occasions, to be served in the community also via a recognisance release order.