Italy: Five investigated for obtaining work and residency permits via a fake marriage

Rome: Three Italian citizens and two foreigners are under investigation in Marsala, Sicily, on charges of aiding illegal residency and falsification of official documents.

The Marsala Prosecutor’s Office alleges that the five individuals orchestrated a fake marriage to secure a residency permit for one foreigner and fabricated employment for another foreigner in exchange for money, enabling the latter to renew his residency permit.

The Digos branch of the Catania police, on the Italian island of Sicily launched the investigation in 2020. The focus was on monitoring so-called “ghost landings” along the coast near Catania to detect potential terrorist cells.

Along the way, police discovered the alleged involvement of a 52-year-old Tunisian man, who remains at large and is also wanted for multiple sentences related to organized crime aimed at facilitating illegal immigration.

To secure his stay in Italy, the Tunisian man allegedly approached two Marsala residents, aged 37 and 33, asking them to find him a bride for a sham marriage that would allow him to obtain a residency permit.

The two accomplices allegedly arranged for him to marry a 32-year-old woman reportedly undergoing psychiatric treatment. The couple officially wed in a civil ceremony in November 2020. However, investigators confirmed the marriage was fraudulent, as the couple did not cohabit, and the Tunisian man was in a relationship with a fellow national.

Further investigations revealed that the 52-year-old had set up an illegal “job placement office” through an agricultural entrepreneur from Marsala. In exchange for payment, this entrepreneur also allegedly falsely reported the employment of a 26-year-old Guinean man, enabling him to renew his residency permit.