Crime | Police unveil fake marriage scheme involving sisters from mainland

The Public Security Police Force (PSP) has unveiled a complex case involving multiple fake marriages aiming to secure Macau residency permits for at least seven people.
The PSP spokesperson disclosed the case during yesterday’s joint press conference for Macau’s police forces.
According to the report, the investigation was triggered by suspicions from the Identification Bureau (DSI), who forwarded the case to the PSP for further investigation.
The police identified a series of crimes involving false declarations and document forgery by four main suspects.
The case goes back to 1994, when a local resident surnamed Wong married a mainland resident surnamed Lok. While living in Macau, the couple requested residency for the wife and eventually for their two children born in Macau in 1994 and 1997 respectively.
In 2011, the couple divorced after 17 years of marriage. By then, Lok had already obtained permanent residency in Macau.
Four years later, Wong married another woman from the mainland surnamed Cheong who was later discovered to have just divorced her husband surnamed Leong. She was also the sister of Wong’s ex-wife, Lok.
Two years later, Lok married Cheong’s ex-husband and Lok’s former brother-in-law.
In the case of both second marriages, the couples requested residency in Macau for their new spouses. Lok also requested residency for her new husband’s children from his previous marriage with Cheong – a son, and a daughter – claiming family reunion as the reason.
Further investigation also revealed that in 2018, Cheong, while married to Wong, gave birth in Macau to a child of whom Wong pretends to be the father and registered as his own so the child could immediately obtain the Macau residency card. It is believed that the child’s father is Cheong’s ex-husband Leong.
The investigation also revealed that the fake marriage between Leong and Lok had been arranged through a third person, acting as an agent. This man, also surnamed Leong, was found to be the brother of the man who married Lok. According to statements from the agent, to accept the fake marriage with Leong, Lok had received RMB50,000 in compensation. The police said that both admitted to having committed the crime.
While Wong and Lok have already been presented to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) to be charged with crimes related to providing false declarations and document forgery, Leong and Cheong, also suspects in this case, are still at large.