The Public Security Police (PSP) have busted a marriage of convenience, in which a local man and a local woman, who previously lived in the Chinese mainland, were arrested on Thursday, PSP spokeswoman Cheong Im Sim said in a regular press conference yesterday.
Cheong identified the “couple” as a 49-year-old male surnamed Lao who owns an appliance repair shop, and a 48-year-old female surnamed Lei who works for Lao.
According to Cheong, the Public Security Police received an application from Lei’s daughter for residency in Macau earlier this year. During the processing of her application, officers found Lei’s identity to be suspicious and suspected a marriage of convenience. Both suspects were summoned to the police station for questioning on September 11.
According to the investigation, Cheong said, the “couple” in the case were introduced by a friend and met in 2000, married in 2001, after which Lei obtained Macau residency in 2007, and divorced in 2008.
During the investigation, according to Cheong, both individuals admitted to the marriage of convenience. They admitted that they never cohabited as a couple. Throughout their marital relationship, each had separate partners and children with them. Lao told police that he had received a gold ring and a gold necklace from Lei as “compensation”, Cheong said.
Meanwhile, the Public Security Police discovered that Lei had falsely reported her age during her 1993 application for a non-resident-worker permit, colloquially known as “blue card”.
According to Cheong, the “couple” have been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) facing sham marriage charges. Lei faces an additional document forgery charge.
This undated handout photo provided by the Public Security Police (PSP) yesterday shows PSP officers escorting the fake marriage suspects into a police station.
