Two jailed for immigration offences

 

Two men were sentenced to jail terms for immigration offences at Laganside Crown Court on Tuesday 9 April 2013.

Thaddeus Alexander Jusick, a 62-year-old Polish man with an address in south Belfast was sentenced to six months for assisting unlawful immigration. Jusick had married Xiu Hua Wei, a 50-year-old Chinese woman, in a sham marriage in Ireland in October 2008.

Jusick who has an outstanding European arrest warrant on him for deception charges will be removed to Poland when his sentence is served.

Kwok Yan Ho, 47, a British citizen who is a restaurant owner from Glenavy, was also sentenced to 6 months in jail for the same offence. He had provided documents falsely showing that Wei worked for him

Wei who was also due to appear on immigration charges failed to do so and a bench warrant was issued for her arrest.

Andrea Anderson for the Home Office, said:

‘This case shows how people are prepared to enter into a marriage with someone they barely know to help them cheat the immigration system. Immigration crime is not victimless. The gangs involved often have links to serious organised crime. We will continue to make life as tough as possible for those who seek to abuse the system.’

A sham marriage or civil partnership typically occurs when a non-European national marries someone from the European Economic Area as a means of attempting to gain long-term residency and the right to work and claim benefits in the UK.