A sham marriage for a thousand dollars: a woman in Vinnytsia wanted to illegally take her friend’s son abroad

In the Vinnytsia region, border guards prevented a man from illegally leaving Ukraine using a fictitious marriage concluded just a few months ago.

This incident occurred at the Mogilev-Podilskyi checkpoint, where a couple arrived: a 62-year-old woman with disabilities and her 25-year-old husband. Their marriage was officially registered just two months ago.

Despite the large age difference, the couple claimed that their union was genuine and that age did not matter. However, during additional verification, their explanations began to raise doubts.

The couple could not provide agreed-upon answers to questions about their life together, their acquaintance, and their everyday life. In the end, the man admitted that there was no romantic relationship between them.

It turned out that the woman was a friend of the man’s mother. She suggested that he enter into a fictitious marriage to ensure the possibility of traveling abroad, receiving $1,000 for this “service”.

To appear convincing to the regulatory authorities, the participants in the scheme prepared false biographies and information about the alleged life together, which the man was supposed to study before the trip.

As a result, the border guards refused to allow him to cross the state border. The case materials were transferred to the National Police, as the woman’s actions appear to constitute a criminal offense under Article 332 of the Criminal Code (illegal smuggling of persons across the state border of Ukraine).