Greek police arrested a 37-year-old man in Kaisariani, Athens, on June 23, who was pretending to be a priest, and receiving large amounts in order to conduct bogus weddings between Greek citizens and foreigners. The “priest” was accused of usurpation of religious authority, forgery of certificates, presenting false certification, facilitation of unauthorized entry or exit in the country, transferring third-country nationals for financial gain and for juvenile pornography and violation of the Narcotics Act. Furthermore, authorities also arrested a 51-year-old Bulgarian citizen, for the offense of child pornography. The case investigation started on June 17 when a Greek woman complained to Greek police that while conducting her yearly tax report, she found that she was reportedly married to a Senegal national, who as she said she “had never met or married.” The police investigation revealed that the 37-year old man, along with an unknown number of accomplices, also pretending to be priests, were using forged stamps, wedding record books and church documents in order to conduct false weddings between European Union citizens, mainly Greek women and third country nationals, for a fee, in order to ensure the migrants stay in the country. He is alleged to have conducted a total of 91 weddings, while he appears to have had links to smuggling rackets as well.
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