6 Vietnamese women, 7 S’porean men charged over suspected marriage fraud
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The suspects will also be investigated for possible false declaration offences involving their visit pass applications.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
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SINGAPORE – Thirteen people – six Vietnamese women and seven Singaporean men – were charged in a district court on June 6 over their alleged links to marriages of convenience, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said.
Each person was handed between one and 12 charges under the Immigration Act.
The women are Ngo Thi Thanh, 28; Hu Gia Phan, 30; Nguyen Thi Thuy Quyen, 30; Tran Ngoc Phuong Thao, 31; Nguyen Thi Minh Trang, 32; and Nguyen Thi Thu Giang, 32.
Six of the men are accused of entering into such marriages.
Four of them – Noel Teo Junwei, 23; Gan Jun Wei, 25; Melvin Tan Soon Kang, 27; and Lim Kian Keong, 32 – were allegedly given between $8,000 and $18,000 each for doing so.
A fifth man, Jonathan Kwek Zi Hao, 32, allegedly received a “cash gratification” but the amount was not revealed in court documents.
Meanwhile, Teo Wei Jie, 27, was allegedly offered an undisclosed amount of cash.
The seventh man, Javier Ang Kun Teng, 26, is said to have arranged three such marriages allegedly linked to Noel Teo, Gan and a man identified as Ryan Lim Meng Yang, 25.
Ang allegedly committed the offences between January 2023 and February 2024 to help three Vietnamese women obtain a visit pass each.
Gan is said to have received $8,000 from Thanh for a marriage of convenience with her at Marina Bay Sands on Jan 26, 2023.
Lim Kian Keong allegedly entered into a marriage with Giang at the Equarius Hotel in Sentosa Gateway on March 27, 2023. He is said to have received $18,000 from her for doing so.
Tan is accused of receiving $12,800 from Phan and $1,000 from a man, known only as “Jason” for a marriage of convenience with Phan. He allegedly committed the offence on April 10, 2023, at the Hard Rock Hotel Singapore, also on Sentosa island.
Noel Teo is accused of entering into a marriage with one Bui Thi Huong, 35, on Feb 1, 2024. He allegedly received $13,000 from her for doing so.
Separately, Teo Wei Jie allegedly entered into a marriage with Thao on April 6, 2023, while Kwek is said to have done so with Quyen on April 10 that year.
The cases involving all 13 people have been adjourned to June 13. They were nabbed in an enforcement operation on June 5, when simultaneous raids were conducted on public and private residential premises across Singapore, the ICA said.
Investigators are also looking into possible false declaration offences involving the suspects’ visit pass applications.
The arrests were made following investigations into an alleged syndicate arranging sham marriages, said ICA.
Those found guilty of marriage of convenience offences can be fined up to $10,000, jailed for up to 10 years or both. A total of 18 people were arrested between 2021 and 2023 for such offences. Eight of them were nabbed in 2023.
ICA said the public can report suspected sham marriages or immigration-related offences via an online form
