Love and Relationship
American To Be Jailed For Arranged $1,500 Marriage With A Nigerian Man
Ajia Strauss, 28, from New Jersey on Thursday 13th February pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to defraud the US by being involved in a fake marriage.
She was brought before the Pittsburgh federal court where she confessed to entering into a fake marriage with a Nigerian man residing in Pittsburgh at that time so he could be a permanent resident
The Nigerian, 36-year-old Monsuru Ogunbiyi went back to Pennsylvania where he lived after the marriage was done in New Jersey on 3rd June 2016. Besides, in addition to paying Strauss $1,500 for the arranged marriage, they made false statements to citizenship and immigration services, staged loved up photos, falsified documents, opened a joint bank account, and claimed they lived together.
They were discovered when the Nigerian man, Ogunbiyi, applied for permanent residence in 2017. Also, SMS in which they talked about Strauss’s address and to know about each other before going on with the marriage.
The couple was arrested in July 2019 where the Nigerian man pleaded guilty to the same offense in December 2019. Ogunbiyi has already served two and a half months in jail and likely to be deported.
On the other hand, Strauss is expected to be sentenced in Pittsburgh on 3rd June. If found guilty, she could spend five years in prison and $250,000 fines.