Three Pakistani men have been arrested for allegedly marrying South Korean women to gain citizenship here, police said Tuesday.
A Pakistani man, identified only by his surname Mohhammad, married a South Korean woman, surnamed Keum, in August 2001 for the purpose of gaining legal rights to live here, Park Young-yeol, inspector at Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, said at a press briefing.
The 51-year-old is also suspected of organizing sham marriages for four other Pakistani men, three of them his relatives, between 2006 and 2014.
Two of these men remain at large, said Park, who leads SMPA’s international security investigation team.
Keum, a mother of twin daughters who had been homeless before meeting Mohhammad, agreed to marry him because she had no stable source of income and the man had promised her housing and monthly allowances.
Mohhammad, who has a wife and children back in his home country, had worked in South Korea illegally since 1999 and was able to afford a place for Keum and her two daughters.
Mohhammad became a South Korean citizen in June 2005 and divorced Keum seven months later.
Within three months of their divorce, Mohhammad asked Keum to marry his friend, surnamed Ali, who never got to obtain South Korean citizenship due to a separate immigration fraud that led to his deportation in 2010. Ali has since been blacklisted.
Last year, Mohhammad connived with his brother, who had also gained South Korean citizenship through a sham marriage, to have Keum’s 21-year-old daughters marry their sons for the same reason.
Police have yet to identify the whereabouts of Mohhammad’s brother.
Mohhammad’s son wasn’t naturalized with his father because Mohhammad had entered South Korea under a fake name.
Keum and the girls were denied monthly rent, allowances and cell phone payments they had been promised after the first few months of their marriages.
The scam was only revealed after Mohhammad’s son molested one of Keum’s daughters.
Keum reported them to police, although she knew she and her daughters could face prosecution.
Sham marriages in South Korea are punishable by up to 10 years in prison or a maximum fine of 50 million won ($46,000).
The Mohhammads also face charges of fabricating official documents and sexual assault. (Yonhap)
