Toronto man charged with performing marriages without legal authority: police

TORONTO — Kyu Shim got married three years ago. On Wednesday, police reassured him he’s still married.

Shim’s wedding ceremony was performed by Paul Cogan, a man Toronto police say married couples without legal authority for nearly three years.

Luckily for Shim, a graphic designer in Vaughan, Ont., he wed in May 2013, just three months before police say Cogan’s authorization to marry couples was revoked.

“So my wife and I are still married. That takes a load off me, holy smokes,” Shim said.

A spokeswoman for the Ontario Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, Anne-Marie Flanagan, said the department’s investigation suggests 48 couples are affected, but there may be more.

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Police have laid five charges against Cogan, 69, including solemnizing a marriage without authority, fraud and forgery for performing marriages between August 2013 and July 2016. They say Cogan has also gone by the name Paul Martin.

Toronto police Det. Const. John Ozols said officers continue to search for couples who may have been affected.

“I’ve been contacted by three people already who have had their marriages performed by him during this time period,” he said. “And that’s just this morning.”

Shim said he and his wife came across Cogan when their wedding venue recommended him among a list of other officiants.

“I’ll say it’s weird and obviously, this has never happened to me before. It’s one in a million,” he said.

A website that police confirmed is associated with Cogan — advertising under the name Prideful Weddings — lists the costs for his services at $200, with additional fees for travel outside the GTA.

It appears the website hasn’t been updated for several years, but it lists Cogan as an Ontario licensed wedding officiant and non-denominational minister.

The site says Cogan “has a laid back and comfortable attitude, making your service experience fun and stress-free.”

Flanagan said Cogan was previously associated with the Clergy Support Memorial Church, but they notified ServiceOntario that he was no longer with them in August 2013. When that happens, Flanagan said, a person’s legal authorization to perform marriages is withdrawn, unless they apply through another body.

She said Cogan’s credentials were reinstated under another denomination in July, but as a result of the investigation, they’ve been revoked again.

Flanagan said ServiceOntario will be reaching out to all the affected couples, but people don’t necessarily need to worry that their marriages are invalid.

“Legislation says the sole fact that a couple was married by someone unauthorized to perform marriage does not invalidate the marriage,” she said.

“We’re not in a position to talk about validity, but we recommend if a couple is concerned, they may want to seek legal advice.”

Police allege Cogan was using another minister’s name to authorize marriages.

Ozols said that a worker in the Ontario Office of the Registrar General discovered something was wrong when they contacted that minister to ask about a problem with a couple’s marriage certificate.

“The minister went through his records and said, ‘I never married them,’” Ozols said.

“His authority was revoked, so that’s the only way he could register marriages, by using someone else’s name.”

Police say they searched Cogan’s home on Tuesday, and are examining paperwork they seized.

Cogan appeared in a Toronto court Wednesday.

Madeline Smith, The Canadian Press