Three Pakistani brothers and two local women were arrested for their involvement in two fake marriages, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Choi Ian Fai said at a special press conference yesterday.
The three Pakistanis holding Macau ID cards are surnamed Butt, aged 48, 42, and 38. The eldest brother is the person in charge of a security company, while the second and third brothers are security officers at the company.
The two local female suspects comprise a 34-year-old woman surnamed Ho who works in a restaurant. She is the girlfriend of the elder brother and the “fake” wife of the third brother.
The other female suspect is a 51-year-old woman surnamed Iao who works in the eldest brother’s company as a part-time staff. She is the “fake” wife of the second brother.
According to Choi, the Judiciary Police received a tip-off by email in August 2019 about the sham marriages of the second and the third brothers. PJ officers discovered that the eldest brother married a local woman and obtained his Macau ID card in 2005. He got divorced and in 2008 married another woman from the mainland. They have a son and a daughter. Afterwards he had an affair with Ho, who became his girlfriend.
Ho got pregnant in 2013 and the elder brother asked her to marry the third brother in 2013 in Pakistan so that latter could obtain a Macau ID card, which happened last year. Ho gave birth to a baby boy in 2013 and the elder brother told both of them to put the third brother’s name on the birth certificate instead of his.
Choi said the third brother and Ho registered a flat in the Barrier Gate area as their home address. However, neighbours told the police that they never saw the third brother. Instead, PJ officers confirmed that Ho lived with the eldest brother in the flat. The Judiciary Police arrested the two brothers and Ho separately on Wednesday near the Barrier Gate.
Meanwhile, PJ officers discovered that the second brother married Iao in 2009 in Pakistan and obtained his Macau ID card in 2017. They divorced in 2018. The officers discovered that Iao had sold a flat under her name in 2015 but the second brother’s name was not mentioned in the contract. Also, based on the statements of the current owner of the flat and Iao’s family, they never met the second brother and neither ever lived together. This, according to Choi, confirmed that the two are involved in a sham marriage. The second brother was arrested in his flat in the Largo de São Domingos area and Iao was arrested in her flat near the Ruins of St. Paul’s Cathedral area on Wednesday, according to Choi.
Under questioning, Ho admitted that she married the third brother “under the instruction” of the eldest brother. However, she insisted that no money was involved in the deal. The three brothers and Iao denied that their marriages a fake. However, according to the findings of the investigation, the Judiciary Police believe that all the five suspects are involved in the two sham marriage cases, Choi said.
The quintet were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing document forgery charges, according to Choi.
The three hooded Pakistani male suspects and two female local suspects are escorted by the Judiciary Police (PJ) officers from the PJ headquarters to a vehicle yesterday. Photo: Iong Tat Choi
