They did this because of a legal stay in the EU
Through fictitious marriages with Bulgarian men from the Middle East, they manage to secure a legal stay on the territory of the European Union. For some of them, the Bulgarian investigators assume that they may be close to terrorist groups, writes TrafficNews.
In an action by the Ministry of the Interior, the Prosecutor’s Office and the State Security Service, five people were detained – three Bulgarians and two Turks. The scheme was led by a Turkish citizen, the owner of a bakery in Berlin, who used Bulgarians as intermediaries.
The middlemen mostly recruited girls from hamlets in some of the Pleven villages. The reason – the lack of work and income.
The criminal scheme mainly benefited men from the Middle East. According to the investigators, there is reason to believe that some of the “fictitious newlyweds” are involved in various criminal activities such as arms trafficking, drugs and terrorism. The whole procedure of organizing the fictitious marriages took about six months.
In the criminal scheme, girls without income and education were selected. For a fictitious marriage, the mediators offered between 3 and 5 thousand euros. The group has been active since 2020, mainly in several Pleven villages, and the victims were between the ages of 19 and 25. In the Pleven village of Petarnitsa, they have heard about the trafficking of girls from the neighborhood for a long time, says Mayor Yonko Danov.
The neighboring village also sent girls to Germany. In the hamlet, the BNT team welcomes dozens of children and young girls who live in extreme poverty and destitution. Here they admit that many people go abroad, but they don’t know if they get married there.
In Plevensko, the scheme was driven by two Bulgarians. They found the girls through their relatives and friends. Their work was supervised by a Turkish citizen who was a relative of the group’s Tartor, who was in Berlin. According to sources close to the investigation, who wished to remain anonymous, the organization had a high level of conspiracy. They only trusted their family members.
“Everything is based on personal contacts and acquaintances. Through a person until the right woman is reached. Her marital status is investigated – is she married.”
After the meeting with the mediator, the girl undertook for a sum of 100-200 euros to obtain documents for concluding a marriage abroad from the ESGRAON directorate. The traffickers then arranged several trips to Germany, where the victim registered at an address in Berlin together with the “future groom”.
Until the marriage itself, the girls did not know their future husbands. They were kept in quarters used as depots for brides. Usually no more than four trips were needed, and the whole process lasted about half a year.
“A part of them were threatened because they did not want to finish the procedure and return for the last stage. The stage in which the documents are submitted to the relevant German institution for the permanent residence of the Turkish citizens,” said Velislava Patarinska, an observer prosecutor in the case.
At the top of the pyramid stood a Turkish citizen, the owner of a doner restaurant in Berlin. He found the fictitious newlyweds. Mostly young men of Kurdish, Turkish and Lebanese origin. The legal stay in the territory of the EU cost between 15 and 20 thousand euros.
“At the moment, pregnant women are also being sought. The perpetrators recognize the children. Thus they acquire a specific status of parents of children who are citizens of a member country of the European Union. This allows them to acquire Bulgarian citizenship in a much faster and easier procedure.” added Vladimir Nikolov, district prosecutor of Pleven.
To date, more than 20 fictitious marriages have been established. According to the investigators, there are serious concerns that people with rich criminal pasts close to terrorist groups benefited from the scheme.
“This is also linked to schemes for the use of forged documents and penetrates even into the territory of the Schengen area. This is a loophole that the relevant perpetrators of crimes have learned and are using to penetrate the Western European world in this way. Obviously creates a risk for the entire united European space,” added Vladimir Nikolov, District Prosecutor of Pleven.
If convicted, the 5 people arrested could face up to ten years in prison, and the fictitious brides could face much more than 20.
