Ana Rita Teixeira Ferras, 26, was jailed after she set up sham weddings between women from the EU and men from Africa so they could stay in the UK A woman who set up sham weddings between European women and African migrants so they could stay in Britain has been jailed. Ana Rita Teixeira Ferras, 26, set up at least three fake marriage in 2012 between women from the EU and men from west Africa. She even took part in a scam herself and married a man in 2007 and helped produce false payslips to be used by those who had had sham marriages when they made applications to the Home Office to stay in the country.
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Ana Rita Teixeira Ferras, 26, set up a string of fake weddings in 2012
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She organised marriages between EU women and men from west Africa
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Fake weddings were organised to allow the men to remain in the UK
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Ferras, of Northamptonshire, even took part in one scam herself in 2007
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She was tracked down by police and fled to her native Portugal before police got a European Arrest Warrant to bring her back to the UK
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She was jailed for 4 years for facilitating a breach of immigration law
Last month ringleaders of a different sham marriage gang which arranged fake weddings for foreign men who wanted to gain @placeholder citizenship were jailed.