By Jung Min-ho
A Pakistani father, along with his son and nephew have been arrested on suspicion of marrying Korean women for the sole purpose of obtaining citizenship here, police said Tuesday.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA), the man, 51, surnamed Mohammad, will face charges of acquiring Korean nationality through a marriage fraud scheme involving a Korean woman, surnamed Keum.
He is also suspected of helping his son and nephew gain citizenship in the same way through sham marriages with her twin daughters.
The three Korean women have been booked without detention for their alleged involvement, the SMPA said.
Sham marriages here are punishable by up to 10 years in prison or a maximum fine of 50 million won ($46,000).
Mohammad came to Korea in 1999 on a tourist visa but illegally settled in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, where he worked at a wrapping paper factory.
While working there, he met Keum, who was homeless and had no stable source of income. He convinced her to marry him, promising that he would provide her with housing and a monthly allowance. Police said she took the deal and in August 2001 they fraudulently filled out marriage paperwork.
As planned, Mohammad became a Korean citizen in June 2005, and seven months later the two divorced. Then, he asked Keum to marry his friend, surnamed Ali, who failed to obtain Korean citizenship due to a separate immigration fraud that led to his deportation in 2010. Keum and Ali did not marry, and Ali has since been blacklisted.
Mohammad then conspired with his brother, who had also gained Korean citizenship through a sham marriage, to convince Keum’s 21-year-old daughters, who did not have stable jobs, to marry their sons in return for housing and monthly allowances. They married in February.
But Mohammad and the two couples lived separately, divided by gender, in a two-room row house, police said.
For the first few months after the marriages, however, the Pakistani men did not provide Keum and her daughters with the allowances and cell phone payments they promised, police said.
Their scam was revealed after Mohammad’s son molested one of Keum’s daughters. Keum reported them to police, although she knew her family could face prosecution for sham marriages.
The three Pakistani men are also facing charges of fabricating official documents and sexual assault.
Police said they are still looking for Mohammad’s brother.
Mohammad’s son and nephew were “well-prepared” for possible inspection by of the Korea Immigration Service, police said.
They knew their nominal wives’ physical features, such as their shoe size, and fabricated pictures of them dating, police said.
“We believe there are more similar cases,” an SMPA official said. “In cooperation with the immigration service, we will continue to work on the issue.”