Society

Macao police bust bogus marriage racket

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-04-09 13:43

MACAO - Judiciary Police (PJ) of Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) had arrested eight male residents and a woman from Hunan province for their alleged involvement in a bogus marriage racket, the Macao Post Daily reported Friday.

The newspaper quoted a PJ spokesman as saying that the suspects, aged between 26 and 52, were apprehended after the police had been tipped off last December that a racket was arranging fake marriage for women from the Chinese mainland with local men.

The racket's modus operandi was that it contacted debt-burdened casino gamblers, promising them they would "take care" of their debts under the condition that they wed a woman from the Chinese mainland in a fake marriage so that the woman could obtain a local residency permit, according to the spokesman.

Three of the suspects are alleged members of the racket while the other male suspects are gamblers allegedly involved in the fake marriage scam, the spokesman said, adding that the female suspect had entered into a fake marriage with one of the male suspects so that she could settle down in Macao.

According to the PJ, at least 10 accomplices were on the run, comprising a number of mainland women and local men.

The suspects have meanwhile been transferred to the Public Prosecution (MP) for further investigations and possible arraignment on criminal charges.