Singaporean bigamist jailed for marrying another woman in Las Vegas
File photo of the State Courts in Singapore. (Photo: CNA/Xabryna Kek)
SINGAPORE: A 58-year-old married Singaporean man was jailed for a month on Wednesday (May 22) for trying to marry another woman in Las Vegas last year.
The court heard that Ronnie Oh Yin Yan solemnised his marriage to his Singaporean first wife, who is now 56, at Singapore's Registry of Marriages 32 years ago.
The pair have remained married since registering their marriage in 1987.
Sometime in April 2016, Oh befriended a 26-year-old woman on a social media website.
Oh began dating the younger woman and paid her a monthly sum to work in his company and for companionship.
He subsequently told her he would give her a higher monthly allowance if she married him. She agreed.
Oh suggested registering their marriage in the United States, even though he knew he was still married to his wife in Singapore.
On Mar 28 last year, Oh and his younger lover registered their marriage in Las Vegas. This second marriage is void as Oh's first wife is still alive.
It was not revealed how the case came to light.
"I QUARREL WITH HER EVERY DAY": OH
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Ben Mathias asked for a sentence of one month's jail.
Oh, who was unrepresented, told the judge through a Mandarin interpreter that he hoped for a lighter sentence as his company needed him.
"I quarrel with her every day," he said, referring to his first wife, who was in court. "On my way here I also quarrelled with her."
He added that he had medical conditions including difficulties walking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
The prosecutor responded saying that a month's jail was already "on the lower end".
When approached by reporters after the hearing, Oh's first wife walked away quickly and said in Mandarin: "Don't ask me. I'm not happy."
For marrying again while his spouse was alive, Oh could have been jailed for up to seven years and fined.
