A Vietnamese woman was sentenced to several weeks in jail by a Singaporean court for marrying her sugar daddy under false pretenses in order to secure Singaporean Permanent Residence (PR).
She was slapped with four charges and pleaded guilty to one of them.
Met sugar daddy through friend
According to Shin Min Daily News, 28-year-old Koi Thi Truc Lin first met 32-year-old Bobby Thedores Tan at a friend’s house somewhere in March or April 2020.
In July of the same year, both of them pursued a sugar baby-sugar daddy relationship, which saw Tan paying Koi S$2,000 (RM6,100) weekly.
The couple later moved into an apartment rented by Tan in September 2021, but he found himself unable to pay both the rent and Koi after his money ran dry, leading to him wanting to end the relationship.
It was reported that he allegedly owed Koi S$14,000 (RM43,200) when he brought up the breakup.
Got into fake marriage
Not wanting to leave Singapore so soon, Koi suggested getting married so that she could prolong her stay.
On top of that, it would also allow her to obtain Long-Term Visit Passes and apply for Singapore PR with Tan as her sponsor.
Tan agreed to be onboard with the plan and he and Koi solemnised their marriage on Feb 17, 2022.
Lied to officers
Between then and the day Koi got arrested, Tan sponsored a total of three Long-Term Visit Passes for her.
Court documents also showed that Koi was dishonest about the purpose of her marriage when she applied for a Long-Term Visit Pass on Mar 14, 2023.
She told Immigration and Checkpoint Authority (ICA) officers that she didn’t marry Tan to extend her stay in Singapore, despite knowing it was a lie.
However, officers failed to see through her lie and approved her application on Apr 27, 2023, where she was given a year-long Long-Term Visit Pass.
As for Tan, he also lied to ICA officers about the purpose of the marriage during another Long-Term Visit Pass application in August 2023, where he claimed the union wasn’t done with the purpose of securing PR for Koi.
Jailed by court
It wasn’t until Nov 11, 2024, did officers uncover the duo’s deception and arrested them.
Koi faced four charges, three for false statements she made during Long-Term Visit Pass applications on three separate dates, and one for entering into a paid marriage with a Singapore citizen knowing it was for an immigration advantage.
She was handed a seven-week jail sentence after pleading guilty to one charge.
As for Tan, he was charged with three counts of violating immigration laws, pleaded guilty on Jan 16, and was jailed for seven weeks too.
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