FAMAGUSTA GAZETTE— Four individuals were sentenced to four years in prison on Thursday by the Permanent Criminal Court of Larnaca for their roles in a criminal organization that arranged sham marriages in Cyprus between women from Portugal and Latvia and men from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
The marriages were intended to help the men obtain residency permits in the Republic of Cyprus.
The defendants were convicted on July 22, 2025, of conspiracy to defraud the Republic (2 years), aiding third-country nationals to reside in Cyprus for profit (3 years), and participation in criminal activity (4 years). No separate sentence was issued for participation in a criminal organization, as the offense was covered under the third charge. All sentences will run concurrently.
A fifth individual was sentenced to 15 months in prison for obtaining a residency permit through false representation as the spouse of a European citizen.
The case posed significant challenges, particularly in proving guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Many of the European women involved either changed their initial statements or refused to testify in Cyprus.
However, all prosecution witnesses presented by the representative of the Attorney General were deemed credible, including three Portuguese women who testified via video link arranged with the help of Eurojust, and a Portuguese police inspector who had investigated the case following concerns raised by the Portuguese Embassy in Cyprus.
The investigation began on November 24, 2020, when Cypriot police formed a task force in response to information from Portuguese authorities about a criminal network organizing marriages between European women and South Asian men centered in Cyprus.
With support from Europol and Eurojust, authorities uncovered a scheme involving individuals traveling to Cyprus to participate in fake marriages aimed at securing residency.
A joint European operation on January 29, 2024, led to the arrest of 15 suspects — 13 in Cyprus, one in Latvia, and one in Portugal. Additional arrests were made in other European countries under European arrest warrants.