France charges Briton over offences like identity theft after fake Disneyland marriage with child
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Disneyland Paris said the event allegedly organised by a British citizen was “immediately cancelled” by its teams “after the identification of significant irregularities”.
PHOTO: AFP
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PARIS – France charged a British citizen with offences including money-laundering and identity theft after he allegedly organised a bizarre ceremony at Disneyland Paris where he played the role of the groom in a fake marriage with a nine-year-old girl
He is suspected of hiring the theme park before it opened to the public on June 21 for the staged wedding event, in a contract worth €130,000 (S$193,000).
The man, who has not been named but has a criminal record in Britain for sexual assault offences, has in addition to his charges also been named as an assisted witness – a step before being indicted – in a probe into suspected corruption of a minor, prosecutors said.
The incident initially caused grave alarm when staff alerted the police that it could have concerned an illegal child marriage, with the purported “bride” a nine-year-old Ukrainian girl.
It later turned out to have been entirely staged but the authorities immediately launched an investigation.
The British man played “the role of the groom after being professionally made up to display a face completely different from his own”, the prosecutor for the Meaux region Jean-Baptiste Bladier told AFP.
The French judicial authorities were informed by their British counterparts that the man “has been convicted in the past, notably for sexual offences against minors”, he added on June 24.
The man is currently wanted by the British authorities for failing to comply with his obligations as a registered sex offender.
‘Significant irregularities’
The authorities have designated a 24-year-old Latvian who played the role of the bride’s sister at the event as an assisted witness.
The prosecutor said investigations showed the “marriage” was in fact “a fictitious ceremony intended to be filmed privately”.
The Briton is suspected of “recruiting, with the help of a Latvian citizen, other Latvian nationals to ensure the smooth running of the event, as well as around 100 French extras, who were falsely presented to Disneyland Paris as wedding guests”, the prosecutor said.
The Ukrainian child, who arrived in France two days before the event, suffered “no violence, either physical or sexual” and “was not forced to play the role” of the bride, the prosecutor had said at the weekend.
According to the prosecutor, Disneyland Paris was deceived, with “the organiser impersonating a Latvian national and using false documents to secure the contract to hire the park”.
The event was scheduled to take place between 5am and 7am local time, outside public opening hours, on the privatised premises “at a total cost of €130,000”, according to a police source who asked not to be named.
But Disneyland Paris emphasised in a statement sent to AFP on June 22 that the event had been “immediately cancelled” by its teams “after the identification of significant irregularities”. AFP
