Marriage racket
THEY CALL HIM the “godfather” and he is the main link in the big illegal marriage scam in Barbados. He is a middle-aged Guyanese who has been living here for more than 20 years. Over the years he and his parents, referred to as “the bosses”, arranged marriages for several of their relatives and friends to Barbadian men and women. The marriage fee ranged between $2000 and $5000. Rites took place officially and in most cases the couples never lived together and separated by the time residential status was attained by the Guyanese. In other cases, the “godfather” hooked up unsuspecting males and females with Guyanese who were then cajoled into marriage, only to be dumped shortly thereafter. Investigations into the background of the “godfather” revealed that when he first came to Barbados, he himself was in a marriage of convenience with a young country woman whom he had met on the plantation where he worked. One year after “sweet talking” the woman into the marriage, he dumped her for another workmate. Today he lives comfortably with several of his relatives whom he brought here over the years. They include his immediate family – mother, father, children, brothers, sisters – his extended family and a few friends. Many of the people he brought here built homes mainly in areas such as Harlington, Gemswick, Foursquare Valley and Pennyhole in St. Philip, and Fairy Valley in Christ Church. Many of them were employed mainly on plantations, farms, in shops and in the construction field. The main family, which included this man’s parents, lived in a home nestled in a St. Philip development. When a Sunday Sun team visited the district, several neighbours admitted knowing of the marriage racket. At least three people said they were approached with proposals which they turned down, but they knew of others who were either paid or tricked into marriage. One man who has lived in the district all his life explained how the “godfather’s” family had expanded over the years. They kept to themselves since their house was not near their neighbours. People in the district believed something “fishy” was going on because of the many cars which went to the house. “So many people live in that house now and every minute they are extending it. He brought all his family here. They don’t mix with the people in the neighbourhood but very often a whole set of cars does be line up outside there,” one man said. The Sunday Sun managed to track down the woman who was the first wife of the “godfather” about 15 years ago. She believed she was tricked into her marriage. According to her, there was no money involved and she thought they were in love, but shortly afterwards he left her for a work colleague. “He brought his brothers and their wives and all their children here,” she said, adding that at one time he offered her daughter $2 000 to marry his nephew, but she bluntly refused. “I feel he only married me for status. I did not know at the time that he was into this, but he good at it now,” the 54-year-old woman said. Her aughter, 21, was even more vocal about her then step-father. “I told him off when he came telling me about paying me to marry his nephew. They ain’t had no right living here off of Bajans. All of them want sending back.” The “godfather” still lives with that woman. But while he never married her, she married one of his uncles and her sister was married to another relative. Chief Immigration Officer Rosita Holligan admitted her department had been informed of several suspected cases of marriages of convenience. She said a disparity in the ages was often a major clue about such marriages. For instance, in one case, a 50-year-old Barbadian woman married a 20-year-old Guyanese man while her daughter, who was in her 20s, married a 60-year-old Guyanese. Holligan said they had also received complaints from Barbadians claiming they had either tricked into marriage or did not receive the money promised. She added that recently, they investigated a case where a Guyanese woman married a Barbadian man and had 13 relatives living at the house illegally. There were also instances where couples divorced in Guyana, came to Barbados, married different partners whom they divorced shortly after, and then remarried each other. “When we investigate these marriages, we find that the couples do not even live together or divorce soon after they are married,” she said. 
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