SINGAPORE: In order to pay off his debts, a man entered into two sham marriages one after the other, gave his Singpass credentials away and hired a maid in his name even though she performed cleaning work elsewhere.
Goh Cheng Feng, Alex, 31, was sentenced on Monday (Jul 21) to 20 months and six weeks' imprisonment and fined S$18,000 (US$14,000). If he cannot pay the fine, he will have to serve another 36 days' jail in default.
He pleaded guilty to seven charges under the Immigration Act linked to the sham marriages, Computer Misuse Act for relinquishing his Singpass information and Employment of Foreign Manpower Act for the maid offences.
Another 12 charges were taken into consideration.
The court heard that Goh came to know a person called Jason in 2021 through playing poker. Jason was later established to be Ng Chee Hon, a Singaporean who is at large.
During the games, Jason raised the idea of a marriage of convenience with a Vietnamese woman to prolong her stay in Singapore, asking Goh to consider it.
Sometime between end-2022 and early 2023, Goh owed Jason money for losing a poker game hosted by Jason.
Jason then repeated the sham marriage proposal to Goh. He was to act as his foreign spouse's local sponsor and apply for visit passes for her to remain in Singapore.
Jason also said Goh would get a divorce if the long-term visit pass application for his spouse was rejected.
In return, he would be paid S$4,000 on the day of solemnisation, S$1,000 every month after solemnisation and S$6,000 on approval of the long-term visit pass.
Needing money, Goh agreed. He got married to Dolly Luong Gia Linh, a 24-year-old Vietnamese woman, solemnising their marriage in April 2023 at Hard Rock Hotel in Sentosa.
He received the S$4,000 from Dolly after the ceremony. They did not stay together and did not have a real marriage.
Goh made an application for a long-term visit pass for Dolly, but it was rejected in June 2023. He made an appeal, but this was also rejected.
Dolly later told Goh that she would initiate proceedings to dissolve the marriage, as Goh could not get the pass for her and there was no reason to continue with it.
Goh was told he would continue to get the monthly payment of S$1,000 and was asked to apply for a short-term visit pass for Dolly to remain in Singapore until the marriage was dissolved.
The annulment was finalised in December 2023. By then, Goh had successfully made five short-term visit pass applications for Dolly, failing three others.
To avoid leaving evidence, Goh deleted messages and photos of the sham marriage arrangement. He was also approached by Jason to act as a witness for someone else's sham marriage and received S$100 for that as a "transportation fee".
In total, Goh received S$11,500 from Dolly for the marriage of convenience.
In January 2024, Jason and Dolly offered Goh proposals to enter into a second sham marriage under the same terms.
Initially, Goh rejected them, but eventually agreed as he wanted to pay off his debt.
Dolly linked Goh up with his second wife - 31-year-old Vietnamese national Phan Thi Trang.
They got married at a restaurant at Marina Bay Sands in March 2024 and Goh received S$2,950 in total from Dolly and Jason as his reward.
Dolly then told Goh that she would pay him S$6,000 if he succeeded in getting a long-term visit pass for his second wife.
He submitted an application, lying in the declarations, but it was rejected by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) in June 2024.
Other than these offences, Goh also agreed to employ a foreign domestic worker under his name - a ploy suggested by Jason in December 2023.
Under the arrangement, the maid would carry out freelance cleaning work in Singapore, and Goh would be paid S$1,200 for every maid he employed.
To facilitate this, Goh made a false statement to the Ministry of Manpower to employ a maid. Although the maid was issued a work pass, she never worked for him.
Instead, she did freelance home cleaning services between April 2024 and December 2024, renting rooms in Housing Board flats for between S$500 and S$600 a month instead of staying with Goh.
Goh also admitted disclosing the login credentials of his Singpass account to an unidentified person on Telegram for S$3,000 that he never received.
Unknown criminals used his Singpass details to open bank accounts, with more than S$4 million flowing through them in total. More than S$440,000 of this money was linked to scams.
ICA arrested Goh in June 2024 for the sham marriage with Phan, while MOM began investigating him for the maid offence half a year later.
Goh's lawyer, Mr Riko Isaac from Amolat & Partners, said his client was "desperate for finances" when he committed the offences.
He had lost his job in part due to COVID-19 as well as a failed business venture that wiped out his savings.
This led Goh to borrow from a bank and licensed moneylenders, causing his debt to swell to S$60,000, said Mr Isaac.
He was on the brink of bankruptcy when he spoke to Jason, who offered him "easy money".
As for the Singpass offence, Goh had been invited to join a Telegram group offering part-time work and Singpass-related scams were not as rampant back then as they are now, so he did not "think too much" about it, said Mr Isaac.
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Goh Cheng Feng, Alex, 31, was sentenced on Monday (Jul 21) to 20 months and six weeks' imprisonment and fined S$18,000 (US$14,000). If he cannot pay the fine, he will have to serve another 36 days' jail in default.
He pleaded guilty to seven charges under the Immigration Act linked to the sham marriages, Computer Misuse Act for relinquishing his Singpass information and Employment of Foreign Manpower Act for the maid offences.
Another 12 charges were taken into consideration.
The court heard that Goh came to know a person called Jason in 2021 through playing poker. Jason was later established to be Ng Chee Hon, a Singaporean who is at large.
During the games, Jason raised the idea of a marriage of convenience with a Vietnamese woman to prolong her stay in Singapore, asking Goh to consider it.
Sometime between end-2022 and early 2023, Goh owed Jason money for losing a poker game hosted by Jason.
Jason then repeated the sham marriage proposal to Goh. He was to act as his foreign spouse's local sponsor and apply for visit passes for her to remain in Singapore.
Jason also said Goh would get a divorce if the long-term visit pass application for his spouse was rejected.
In return, he would be paid S$4,000 on the day of solemnisation, S$1,000 every month after solemnisation and S$6,000 on approval of the long-term visit pass.
Needing money, Goh agreed. He got married to Dolly Luong Gia Linh, a 24-year-old Vietnamese woman, solemnising their marriage in April 2023 at Hard Rock Hotel in Sentosa.
He received the S$4,000 from Dolly after the ceremony. They did not stay together and did not have a real marriage.
Goh made an application for a long-term visit pass for Dolly, but it was rejected in June 2023. He made an appeal, but this was also rejected.
Dolly later told Goh that she would initiate proceedings to dissolve the marriage, as Goh could not get the pass for her and there was no reason to continue with it.
Goh was told he would continue to get the monthly payment of S$1,000 and was asked to apply for a short-term visit pass for Dolly to remain in Singapore until the marriage was dissolved.
The annulment was finalised in December 2023. By then, Goh had successfully made five short-term visit pass applications for Dolly, failing three others.
To avoid leaving evidence, Goh deleted messages and photos of the sham marriage arrangement. He was also approached by Jason to act as a witness for someone else's sham marriage and received S$100 for that as a "transportation fee".
In total, Goh received S$11,500 from Dolly for the marriage of convenience.
THE SECOND MARRIAGE
In January 2024, Jason and Dolly offered Goh proposals to enter into a second sham marriage under the same terms.
Initially, Goh rejected them, but eventually agreed as he wanted to pay off his debt.
Dolly linked Goh up with his second wife - 31-year-old Vietnamese national Phan Thi Trang.
They got married at a restaurant at Marina Bay Sands in March 2024 and Goh received S$2,950 in total from Dolly and Jason as his reward.
Dolly then told Goh that she would pay him S$6,000 if he succeeded in getting a long-term visit pass for his second wife.
He submitted an application, lying in the declarations, but it was rejected by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) in June 2024.
Other than these offences, Goh also agreed to employ a foreign domestic worker under his name - a ploy suggested by Jason in December 2023.
Under the arrangement, the maid would carry out freelance cleaning work in Singapore, and Goh would be paid S$1,200 for every maid he employed.
To facilitate this, Goh made a false statement to the Ministry of Manpower to employ a maid. Although the maid was issued a work pass, she never worked for him.
Instead, she did freelance home cleaning services between April 2024 and December 2024, renting rooms in Housing Board flats for between S$500 and S$600 a month instead of staying with Goh.
Goh also admitted disclosing the login credentials of his Singpass account to an unidentified person on Telegram for S$3,000 that he never received.
Unknown criminals used his Singpass details to open bank accounts, with more than S$4 million flowing through them in total. More than S$440,000 of this money was linked to scams.
ICA arrested Goh in June 2024 for the sham marriage with Phan, while MOM began investigating him for the maid offence half a year later.
Goh's lawyer, Mr Riko Isaac from Amolat & Partners, said his client was "desperate for finances" when he committed the offences.
He had lost his job in part due to COVID-19 as well as a failed business venture that wiped out his savings.
This led Goh to borrow from a bank and licensed moneylenders, causing his debt to swell to S$60,000, said Mr Isaac.
He was on the brink of bankruptcy when he spoke to Jason, who offered him "easy money".
As for the Singpass offence, Goh had been invited to join a Telegram group offering part-time work and Singpass-related scams were not as rampant back then as they are now, so he did not "think too much" about it, said Mr Isaac.
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