A 31-year-old Melbourne man has been sentenced after pleading guilty to impersonating a Commonwealth officer and performing fraudulent marriage ceremonies. The sentencing took place in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.
The man deceived five couples, charging between $700 and $1000 for his services as a fake marriage celebrant between March 2022 and April 2023. During this period, he conducted ceremonies in Victoria that were later deemed invalid due to his lack of authorisation.
AFP Detective Superintendent Donna Tankard said this was a unique case that could have had serious repercussions for the couples who were married under deceptive circumstances.
“Impersonating an authorised and registered marriage celebrant in Australia is an extremely deceitful act and this could have had serious financial, religious, and legal consequences for the couples who were victims of this deception.”
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) began investigating the case after the fifth couple could not find the man’s name on the register of authorised celebrants. Following confirmation from the Attorney-General’s Department that he was not registered as a marriage celebrant under the Commonwealth, the AFP arrested him on 19 February 2024.
On 24 June 2024, the man appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court, where he pled guilty to four counts of solemnisation of a marriage by an unauthorised person, contrary to Section 101 of the Marriage Act 1961 (Cth), and one count of impersonation of a public official, contrary to Section 148.1(3) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth). He received a six-month Community Corrections Order (CCO) with a condition to perform 50 hours of community work.
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