Two Vietnamese women jailed in Singapore for entering sham marriages

By Phan Anh   January 23, 2019 | 04:35 am PT
Two Vietnamese women jailed in Singapore for entering sham marriages
Two Vietnamese women were jailed six months each in Singapore for getting into sham marriages with Singaporean men. Photo by Shutterstock/Ivan Galashchuk
Two Vietnamese women were jailed for six months in Singapore for entering into sham marriages and making false statements in visit pass applications.

The Singapore's Immigration and Checkpoints Authority said on Tuesday that Vo Thi Diem Kieu, 23, and Tran Thuy Bich Tran, 24, had been arrested last February by Singaporean immigration authorities, Channel News Asia reported.

Earlier, the two had separately sought advice from Singaporean Tan Chuen Zin, 42, in 2016 on how to remain in Singapore as their work permits were about to expire.

For this, he suggested they should enter into sham marriages with Singaporean men. The act was criminalized in 2012.The women were paired with two men who had sought help from Tan over financial troubles.

Both marriages were solemnized in November 2016.

The men would not have to fulfill any marital obligations, merely sponsor visit pass applications for Kieu and Tran.

One man was paid $2,941 for the marriage while the other agreed for $1,103.

Kieu and Tran paid Tan $6,618 each for arranging the marriages. The two Vietnamese women stayed in his apartment and paid him rent, instead of living with the men they entered the sham marriages with.

The two husbands were also arrested by immigration officers last February and jailed for six months each.

Tan was arrested last March, jailed for 18 months and fined $9,560 for arranging the marriages and harboring the Vietnamese women despite knowing they had contravened Singaporean laws.

Vietnam ranked ninth among countries with the highest number of visitors (530,000) to Singapore in 2017, according to the Singapore Tourism Board.

 
 
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