By DENISE MAYCOCK
Tribune Freeport Reporter
dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
A GHANA native was fined after he pleaded guilty to entering into a false marriage with a Bahamian woman.
Emmanuel Nathaniel King-Batsios, a 48-year-old pharmacist of Freeport, appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Debbye Ferguson on Thursday.
He was charged with entering into a fraudulent marriage.
Prosecutors say on June 9, the accused was found to have wilfully entered into a fraudulent marriage with Bahamian Jane Julia Andrews in New Providence, for the purpose of obtaining a resident spousal permit from the director of immigration under false pretences. The marriage occurred on May 9, 2011.
King-Batsios was also charged with misleading an immigration officer. On Monday, May 31, while in Freeport the accused wilfully misled immigration officers by providing them with false information during an interview and home inspection in connection with an application he submitted seeking to obtain a resident spousal permit.
King-Batsios pleaded guilty to both charges.
He was ordered to pay $2,500 on each count, or in default, serve one year at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. He was also ordered to be deported to his home country after he has paid his fine.
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