A bogus South African bride reported her sham marriage with a Nigerian student after only receiving £1,000 of her promised £5,000 fee - resulting in both of them being arrested and prosecuted.
Single-mum Bonga Mnisi, 26, who was granted leave to remain in the UK in 2002, married Felix Arifalo, 27, at the Holy Pentecostal Church, Peckham and his temporary spousal residency application was successful.
However, two days before it was due to expire last year he made a false domestic violence complaint, hoping this would result in him being granted permanent leave to remain.
Croydon Crown Court heard the United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA) had already been tipped-off by Mnisi the marriage was false, with Arifalo insisting it was genuine.
Mnisi, of Hawkesley Road, Birmingham pleaded guilty to doing an act to facilitate a breach of UK immigration law, namely entering into a sham marriage on September 26, 2009.
The first-time offender, who has been housed by her local council, was sentenced today to eight months imprisonment, suspended for twelve months and ordered to complete 100 hours community service.
Cleaner Arifalo, of Poplar Place, Thamesmead pleaded guilty to seeking leave to remain in the UK by deception on February 10, last year and was sentenced to ten months imprisonment.
Prosecutor Mr. Guy Russell told the court: "Miss Mnisi claimed she had an attack of conscience when her daughter was three months-old and reported that she had gone through a sham marriage, which kick-started this process.
"She said: 'I put my hands up for committing this crime. I married Felix Arifalo to do a friend a favour.
'Recently he repeatedly made threats to me and said I would lose my right to live in the UK'."
The court heard Arifalo, whose entire immediate family are resident in this country, entered the UK on a two-year student visa, which was extended and he married Mnisi a month before it was due to expire.
"Last year he applied for indefinite leave to remain on the basis he was the victim of domestic violence. That was entirely false," added Mr. Russell.
Mnisi's lawyer Mr. Shahnawaz Khan said: "She could not sustain this fraud against the state and after becoming a mother felt guilty.
"Money was not her motivating factor and she says she never had a relationship with Mr. Arifalo."
Arifalo's lawyer Mr. Shuyeb Muquit told the court: "He maintains that it was a genuine marriage and she left the matrimonial home and became pregnant by someone else."
The defendant suggested his parents went behind his back and agreed the £5,000 fee with his new bride, but only paid her £1,000.
The lawyer described Arifalo's bogus domestic violence claim as a "tick-box" application, adding: "His family are all resident in the UK and he simply panicked."
Recorder Barry Kogan announced: "This is not tick-box. It goes into quite a lot of detail. This was a cynical attempt to gain leave, based on domestic violence.
"The purpose of the marriage was clearly aimed at giving you, Felix Arifalo, the right to remain in this country and for you Bonga Mnisi it was a favour for a friend although you were to be paid five thousand pounds.
"You, Arifalo, then came up with another scheme, the cynical pretence that you were a victim of domestic violence, including a lengthy statement with assertions that were all wholly false."
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