A MAN who has admitted arranging sham marriages told jurors he did not financially benefit from them and had only helped with travel arrangements.
Abiola Abdulkareem, who came to England from Nigeria in 1999 to study at Oxford Brookes University, denies one charge of assisting unlawful immigration between October 2009 and March last year and possessing criminal property in the form of bank credits between January 2008 and July last year.
He has previously admitted one charge of bigamy and four charges of assisting unlawful immigration, but yesterday told jurors at Oxford Crown Court his involvement was minimal.
The 31-year-old, of White Road, Cowley, said he had admitted four of the charges because he had booked Eurostar train tickets for the French brides to come to England to marry Nigerian men.
He admitted making travel bookings for a couple involved in the charge he denies, but said he believed the prospective bride and groom were in love and only booked tickets for the French woman because her fiance was short of money.
Abdulkareem told jurors the reason so much money had gone through his bank account was that not many people in the Nigerian community had bank accounts or debit cards, so they used his card for purchases and paid him back in cash or deposited their wages into his account.
The trial continues.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here