PIO couple charged with holding fake weddings for visas in Australia

An Indian-origin couple in Australia has been charged with arranging fraudulent marriages for Indian men to get them visas by paying the Australian brides over 4,000 dollars.

Australian women were allegedly offered upfront payments of up to 4000 dollars plus an ongoing 250 dollars per week by former migration agent Chetan Mohanlal Mashru and marriage celebrant Divya Krishne Gowda to marry Indian men whom they had never met, witnesses told the Brisbane Magistrates Court.

India-born Mashru and Gowda are each charged with 17 counts of arranging sham marriages for visas.

Mashru is also charged with 23 counts of influencing a public official and 19 counts of delivering false information.