The fake wedding, and the $250,000 scam

When a British charity worker got engaged to a young Ukrainian woman, he thought he was building a new life for them both in Odessa – he was wrong.

James’s car pulled up at the Villa Otrada. The 52-year-old British charity worker had been looking forward to this moment for months.

He was excited to see his fiancee, Irina, waiting for him outside the restaurant on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast. Twenty years younger than him, she looked glamorous, her blonde hair fresh from the hairdresser.

Not far away were what James thought were Irina’s parents and 60 invited guests, also dressed to the nines.

James got out of the car and the waiting crowd turned to clap.

It was July 2017, the start of a hot summer in Odessa, and tables hMoments later, James and Irina recited their wedding vows under an arch of flowers.

But what should have been the perfect moment was in fact nothing of the sort. By midnight James was lying alone in hospital, sick from a suspected spiked drink. He was married, but it wasn’t to the woman he loved. It was the couple’s wedding planner.

This is a story about how a British man lost most of his life savings, as well as his dignity. And how Ukraine’s justice system laughed in his face.

James is not his real name.

Such is his embarrassment that he’s told no-one in the UK his story, not even his family. The BBC has verified his account of what happened using bank documents, official records, text messages, and interviews with many of those directly involved. BBC