Sham marriage ring exposed
-
The New Paper - 14 June 2010
By Crystal Chan
Couples involved in sham marriages
Click on thumbnails below to view. Story continues after photos.
(Photos: ICA)
IN THE first case of its kind here, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) is investigating a matchmaking agency for brokering sham marriages between China women and local men.
Two ICA investigators, Deputy Officer Commanding (Dy OC) Tay Siang Kwang and Senior Officer Lau Eng Choon, revealed details of the case in an exclusive interview with The New Paper on Sunday.
Dy OC Tay said the sister of a sham husband went to ICA in January last year to clarify that he had not lost his NRIC.
He said: "She said she had kept his NRIC as he was of unsound mind. So she was puzzled when ICA wrote to him to say that his replacement NRIC was ready."
Smelling a rat, Dy OC Tay and Officer Lau swung into action.
They learnt that Huang Linjin, 30, a mainland Chinese woman, had listed the man as her husband and sponsor for a long-term social visit pass. It was coming up for renewal and his IC was needed for that.
Registry of Marriages records showed Huang and the man had solemnised their marriage in December 2008.
On a hunch that the marriage could be a sham, the investigators began their probe. Dy OC Tay said of the middle-aged "husband":" How could a mentally unsound man contract a marriage on his own? When we met the man, he couldn't even talk coherently. Something definitely was wrong."
Looking into Huang's application documents, they found a letter from the man's purported employer, Neo Wee Seng.
The letter stated that the man was working for Neo's company and his monthly salary was enough to support his "wife".