Yesterday, the mother of two was sentenced to 11 weeks' jail for bigamy and six other charges.

In 2001, she married her first husband, Mr Liong Tian Yong, so that she could extend her stay in Singapore. She was then holding a Cambodian passport.

In 2003, she married Mr Kelvin Quek Tze Beng. About a year later, in August 2004, she married her third husband, The Kuan Meng, as she was pregnant with his child.

A sales engineer, The, 36, has been charged with abetting her, and will face trial on Monday.

Tran's offences were found out when she applied for permanent residency here last year.

She pleaded guilty yesterday to the bigamy charge and to the other charges of making a false marriage declaration and lying that she had not used a different passport or name to enter Singapore.

After marrying Mr Liong in 2001, she returned to Cambodia because of her parents' break-up. She told Mr Liong to see to a divorce as things were uncertain and she would not return to Singapore.

She then moved to Vietnam, where she was robbed and lost his contact, said defence lawyer Irving Choh.

However, Assistant Public Prosecutor Robert Tan said Tran had later sneaked in and was sent back in March 2002 after being caught by anti-vice officers.

In 2003, she came back here on a fake Vietnamese passport and married Mr Kelvin Quek. The details of this marriage were not disclosed as it was among the 13 charges considered during her sentencing.

Her lawyer said she had married Mr Quek after a whirlwind romance. But the marriage was rocky and she told him she wanted out. He agreed to see to the divorce proceedings.

Investigations showed that she had befriended The after coming to Singapore on the fake Vietnamese passport in early 2003.

In June that year, anti-vice officers again arrested her. She was not charged, but repatriated.

Soon after her return to Vietnam, she discovered she was pregnant by The and told him about it.

After her Vietnamese citizenship had been completed, she obtained a new passport under her actual name, Tran Thi Gai.

She flew in here on May 2, 2004, and married The three months later.

Pleading for leniency and compassion, Mr Choh said Tran had now made good and settled in Singapore.

Counsel said Tran, who was crying in the dock, was a dutiful wife and was also taking care of her handicapped parents-in-law.

elena@sph.com.sg