A 35-year-old Vietnamese woman who wanted to come to Singapore to work as a manicurist has ended up in jail, together with the man she paid to marry her in a fake marriage deal worth $30,000.
According to Shin Min Daily News, the woman, Nguyen Thi Thuy Tien, was introduced to an “agent” through a friend last July and paid him $4,000 to help her apply for a work permit. But after collecting the money, the “agent” told her that it could not be done, and instead asked if she was interested in a fake marriage so she could stay in Singapore.
Nguyen eventually agreed to the plan and paid a total of $30,000. Under the agent’s arrangement, she entered a sham marriage with Singaporean man Wu Jin Cai (transliteration), 36, on September 9 last year.
Both of them were arrested on August 5 this year.
On Monday (October 13), Nguyen and Wu each pleaded guilty to two charges under the Immigration Act. They were both sentenced to six months and eight weeks in jail, while Ng was also fined $10,000.
Investigations revealed that the “agent” behind the scheme was a man named Huang Zhihong (transliteration), who has been involved in several fake marriage cases and is still on the run.
Huang had told Nguyen that a fake marriage with a Singaporean would allow her to get a three-year long-term visit pass.
Meanwhile, Wu had been receiving text messages from Huang offering him “quick money” if he agreed to marry a foreigner. Initially, he ignored the offer as he was not short of cash. But after falling into debt of about $10,000, he decided to take up the deal.
According to court documents, Wu flew to Vietnam on August 12 last year to meet Nguyen under Huang’s arrangement. The two bought wedding rings, took “couple photos,” and then flew back to Singapore together.
After registering their marriage on September 9, Huang even told Nguyen to leave some clothes and shoes at Wu’s home to make it look like they were living together as husband and wife.
In court, Nguyen apologised for her wrongdoing and pleaded for leniency so she could return to Vietnam soon. Wu said he had nothing to say.
