Bangladeshi student 'married woman 22 years older in sham wedding then flew four more brides to UK to marry his friends'

Facing charges: Maria Marques (left) and Mohammed Tanin (right) arriving at Snaresbrook Crown Court today on charges of arranging sham marriages

Mohamed Tanin, 25, married Maria Marques, 47, three months before the Bangladeshi student's leave to remain visa was about to expire
Three of grooms were tenants at property Tanin owned while fourth he met while working at London Zoo

By JESSICA SATHERLEY

Last updated at 5:11 PM on 22nd November 2011

After their own sham marriage, Mohamed Tanin, 25, and Maria Marques, 47, flew four Portuguese women to London to wed Tanin's Bangladeshi friends, who paid him £2,000 for each bride, it is alleged.A Bangladeshi student married a woman 22 years his senior to remain in Britain and then flew four more 'brides' into the UK to wed his friends in sham marriages, a court heard.

Tanin’s UK leave to remain visa was about to expire three months before he married Marques at Bow Church in London on November 24, 2009.

The ‘sham contract marriage’ was ‘not for love’ but a deal which allowed him to apply to live permanently within the UK and the rest of the European Union, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.

Tanin and Marques then arranged for four Portuguese women to fly into the country this summer, on an Easyjet flight paid for by Tanin, the court heard.

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Tanin, who arrived in the UK on a student visa in 2003, was paid up to £2,000 for each woman he brought into the country.

But the planned weddings never took place, the court heard.

Three of the grooms were tenants at a property Tanin owned in East London, while a fourth he met while working at London Zoo.

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