The police have busted two bogus marriages, in which a Macau-Hong Kong “couple” along with a local “intermediary”, and a local-mainland “couple” were arrested on Friday and Saturday respectively, Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Wong Chi Weng said during a regular press conference yesterday.
In the first case, Wong identified the “couple” as a local man in his seventies, surnamed Chio, and a Hong Kong woman in her sixties, surnamed Lee, who claimed to be jobless. They were introduced by a local woman in her eighties, surnamed Tong.
According to Wong, the Public Security Police (PSP) suspected that Chio’s application for a residency permit for Lee, under the pretext of family reunion, involved a sham marriage. On Wednesday, Chio was summoned to a police station, where he admitted that he had entered a sham marriage with Lee through Tong, but insisted that the arrangement did not involve any pecuniary benefits.
Their intent, he said, was to help each other obtain residency in Macau and Hong Kong respectively to access social welfare in both special administrative regions. Chio claimed they had never lived together as a married couple and had not given any benefits to Tong.
On Friday, police apprehended Tong and Lee at the Barrier Gate checkpoint and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge checkpoint, respectively. Lee denied having entered a sham marriage with Chio, claiming that they were a genuine couple applying to settle in Macau for family reunion. Tong admitted to introducing Chio and Lee but denied acting as a “go-between” for their marriage and claimed that she received no benefit. However, the police have confirmed that Lee had met with her to express gratitude for the introduction and gave her a red envelope containing HK$2,000, which Tong initially refused but eventually accepted.
In the second case, Wong identified the “couple” as a mainland man in his fifties, surnamed Jiang, and a local woman in her seventies, surnamed Lei.
Wong noted that the Public Security Police (PSP) received a referral from the Judiciary Police (PJ) regarding Jiang, who was suspected of fraud and believed to be involved in a marriage of convenience with Lei. The police discovered that he had obtained a family visit permit, which was inconsistent with his illegal activities in Macau. The police later arrested Lei in her flat near Praça do Tap Seac (塔石).
Under questioning, Jiang and Lei admitted to their bogus marriage. Jiang told the police that he met Lei in a casino in 2011 and registered their marriage in the mainland within a year. The marriage was intended to facilitate Jiang’s gambling activities in Macau. Jiang claimed he paid Lei HK$122,000 as “remuneration”, while Lei claimed that she only received HK$62,000, according to Wong.
All suspects have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP), facing charges of document forgery, according to Wong.
This undated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) yesterday shows PSP officers escorting the fake marriage “couple” surnamed Jiang and Lei to a police station.
