The dissident cleric and self-styled bishop, Pat Buckley is one of sixteen people in court in Belfast following police investigations over the last three years into sham marriages, money laundering and alleged fraud.
The former Catholic priest could face prosecution in relation to alleged involvement in more than a dozen marriages in which foreign nationals entered into bogus marriage contracts in order to obtain EU residency rights.
Bishop Buckley’s solicitor, Mr Kevin Winter, said the allegations concerning him are “denied unreservedly.”
“He has not been charged with any criminal offence, he has been summoned to appear in court on one specific allegation linked to alleged sham marriages; he denies unreservedly the allegation,” the solicitor added.
However, the Belfast-based Irish News said Bishop Buckley, along with five others under investigation, could face charges of conspiracy relating to a period of more than five years related to allegations of facilitating people in remaining in the UK by entering marriages of convenience with EU nationals.
Authorities in Northern Ireland as well as the Republic have expressed disquiet over the number of marriages being conducted between non-EU nationals (especially from Pakistan) and eastern European women, in particular Latvians.
There have been suspicions that in some cases, the couples do not appear to know each other well, do not speak the same language and that the women may be entering the fake marriages for a fee.
The 47-year, who is a native of Offaly but was attached to the diocese of Down and Connor before he became estranged from the Church, is known to perform marriage ceremonies for couples who would not be eligible to marry under Church rules, including people who were previously married, and gay couples.
The summonses for the Belfast Magistrate’s Court hearing issued to the sixteen people (who include Ho Ling Mo, a Belfast solicitor as well as Bishop Buckley) are understood to relate to alleged offences between January 2004 and September 2009.
The marriages under investigation by the Northern authorities include a number conducted in a hotel just south of the border at Ravensdale in County Louth.
The sham marriages investigation is the latest in a long number of controversies in which Bishop Buckley has become embroiled.
In 1985, he was dismissed as a priest of Down & Connor diocese by the then bishop, the late Cardinal Daly.
He then proceeded to set up an independent ministry from his church house in Larne from where has ministered to the present day.