SINGAPORE: After meeting a man at a club who arranged marriages of convenience, a 22-year-old man roped his friend into such an arrangement before deciding to marry a foreigner himself to settle his gambling debts.
In marrying 35-year-old Vietnamese national Bui Thi Huong so she could stay in Singapore for work, he received S$8,000 (US$6,200).
Noel Teo Junwei was sentenced to nine months and 10 weeks’ jail on Thursday (Sep 19), along with a fine of S$12,000.
He pleaded guilty to two charges under the Immigration Act, with another three charges taken into consideration.
THE CASE
The court heard that Teo frequented a club called ICON2 and befriended co-accused Ang Kun Teng Javier, 26.
He came to know that Ang arranged marriages of convenience for others and that the Singaporean men who took up such sham marriages were paid for it.
Teo introduced the idea of a marriage of convenience to another friend, Lim Meng Yang Ryan, telling him he could earn money from it and giving him Ang’s number.
Teo had a personal interest in Lim’s sham marriage, as he intended to get a cut of the payments Lim would get.
On Jan 27, 2023, Teo made a deal with Ang on how much he would receive and when Lim became uncertain about going through with it, Teo assured Ang that he would “settle” the issue.
On the day Lim’s sham marriage was solemnised on Feb 20, 2023, Teo attended the ceremony as Lim’s marriage witness and took photos of Lim and his new wife to send them to Ang.
After the ceremony, Ang gave Teo S$3,000 to S$4,000 in cash, when Lim was not around.
Teo continued to check on Lim after the marriage as he knew that Lim’s wife would make further payment after her long-term visit pass application was approved.
Teo was to get S$200 from the payment.
TEO’S OWN MARRIAGE
In the second half of 2023, Teo began thinking about entering into a marriage of convenience himself, as he needed money to pay off gambling debts.
He knew that he would have to marry a Vietnamese woman, act as her local sponsor and apply for visit passes for her to remain in Singapore to work.
In return, he would be paid: S$5,000 on the day of the solemnisation, S$5,000 on the day she successfully obtained a long-term visit pass under his sponsorship, and S$1,000 per month until her pass expired.
After deciding to proceed with the sham marriage, Teo received information from Ang about his wife-to-be, 35-year-old Vietnamese Bui Thi Huong.
He flew to Vietnam to meet her for the first time in January this year and spent a few days together to get to know each other, in case the authorities questioned their relationship.
They bought their wedding rings in Vietnam, with Huong sponsoring the trip and rings.
On Jan 21, the couple travelled back to Singapore together on Ang’s instructions to appear like a real couple.
Teo filled in the Singapore Arrival Card for Huong, entering his own address as hers even though she had never stayed there.
The pair solemnised their marriage in a hotel room at Hard Rock Hotel in Singapore on Feb 1. Ang was Teo’s marriage witness.
After the ceremony, Huong gave Teo S$5,000 in cash as part of the agreed reward, and the duo went their separate ways.
Teo continued living in Sengkang with his family while Huong stayed at a unit in Orchard Plaza. Her new “husband” registered her as an occupant of the Sengkang flat even though she did not stay there.
Later that month, Teo asked Huong for a loan, saying this could be deducted from the future payments she owed him. Huong agreed.
She successfully obtained a long-term visit pass under Teo’s sponsorship in March.
In total, Teo received S$8,000 from Huong for the marriage, comprising the S$5,000 initial payment and three monthly payments of S$1,000 from March 2024.
Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers arrested Teo at his Sengkang flat in June after conducting checks on the marriage of convenience.
Teo is part of seven Singaporean men and six Vietnamese women who were hauled to court by ICA in June over their alleged links to sham marriages.
Ang faces multiple charges and his case is pending. Lim’s case is at the pre-trial conference stage.
ICA said in a statement to CNA on Thursday that it takes a serious view of “individuals trying to circumvent our system by engaging in or arranging/assisting to arrange marriages of convenience to obtain immigration facilities in Singapore”.
“We will continue to take firm enforcement action against errant couples and middlemen,” said ICA.
The penalty for marriages of convenience is a jail term of up to 10 years, a fine of up to S$10,000, or both.
For making false statements to obtain immigration facilities, an offender can be jailed for up to a year, fined up to S$4,000, or both.
ICA encouraged the public to report any suspected cases or immigration-related offences to the authority.
