In an exclusive report published today, Monday (October 19, 2026), the German newspaper "Bild" revealed suspicions surrounding an employee in the Department of Foreigners' Affairs in Cologne who is believed to have participated for years in a network that arranged sham marriages and facilitated foreigners obtaining residence permits in Germany in exchange for sums of money.
Cologne is located in North Rhine-Westphalia, the largest German state in terms of population. According to the newspaper, the employee, who works at the Foreigners Department branch in the Arnfeld neighborhood in Cologne, is under investigation along with her husband and two other suspects. The four remain in pretrial detention awaiting their trial, scheduled for February 2027.
A video from Cyprus reveals the threads of the case
Bild reported that the case began with a video clip filmed in the Cypriot capital, Nicosia, in July 2025, showing a marriage ceremony between a Bulgarian woman and an Indian man, which raised the suspicions of investigators.
According to the report, the bride seemed unaware of many of the details of the ceremony, and hesitated when she was asked to kiss the groom, which led investigators to suspect that the marriage was a sham.
The newspaper added that the Indian man is believed to have obtained a residence permit in Germany through this marriage to a European Union citizen.
Unification application and questionable documents
Bild reported that the Bulgarian woman, days after the marriage contract, went to the authorities in Cologne, where she submitted documents, some of which were suspected of being forged, including a salary slip and a rental contract, before applying for reunification with her husband.
The Indian husband was later supposed to obtain a residence permit during an official appointment at the Foreigners Department, but that did not happen after the employee responsible for the file was arrested shortly before the appointment.
Suspicions of forming an international network
According to the investigations, details of which were reported by Bild, the 37-year-old employee (a German of Indian origins) was suspected of being part of an international migrant smuggling network that included her husband and two other men.
The newspaper says that the network obtained about 6,200 euros from the Indian man in exchange for arranging the sham marriage, while investigators estimate that dozens of men, most of them from India, were able to enter Germany or settle their legal status in the same way in recent years.
Bulgarian women and marriages in Cyprus
According to Bild, the network was using Bulgarian women who had the right to reside and move within the European Union, and a number of them were transferred to Cyprus to enter into marriages with foreign men.
Investigators suspect that some of these women were already married in their countries, and that some of them did not know the men they married, according to what the newspaper reported from the investigation file.
Tens of thousands of euros
Bild also reported that investigators estimate the amounts received by the employee and her husband at approximately 76 thousand euros. Suspicions indicate that the new couples were registering at the couple’s residential address in Cologne for a monthly fee of 200 euros.
The newspaper says that, according to investigations, the employee was responsible for processing and approving residency applications related to these cases through her job position.
Trial expected in 2027
The trial of the accused is scheduled to begin in February 2027. Until a final judicial ruling is issued, all accusations and suspicions contained in the case remain under investigation and have not yet been judicially resolved.
