Italian police on Wednesday smashed a
gang that arranged 'fake' marriages of young Italian women to
North African migrants so the latter could get Italian
citizenship.
The gang chose women under the age of 30 for their migrant
clients, who allegedly paid thousands of euros for the bogus
services.
The gang was led by a 61-year-old Neapolitan woman, Matilde
Macciocchi, whose nicknames included "the blonde", "Zia Maria",
and "the sorceress of the betrothed", police said.
Police said the woman filed fake marriage certificates for the
migrants, many of them living in Castel Volturno north of
Naples, which has a big immigrant population.
If the migrants failed to make their payments Macciocchi
allegedly blocked the issuance of their new residence permits,
police said.
The woman was caught on a phone tap saying to a migrant customer
"if you can come now I'll keep the girl ready, don't worry we'll
come to a deal, they all know me from Milan to Naples".
Police made 18 arrests in connection with the probe.
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