SINGAPORE, June 7 — In hopes of getting her ex-boyfriend to return to her and not marry anyone else after he ended their relationship, a 32-year-old finance assistant had another man impersonate him, so she could “marry” him and obtain a marriage certificate.

For her trouble, she was sentenced to four weeks in jail — for one charge of abetting her accomplice, Matthew Yeo Chia Loong, in deceiving a licensed solemniser to sign their marriage certificate, and one charge of abetting Yeo in making a false statement before a licensed commissioner for oaths. 

The involved parties cannot be named due to a court gag order to protect the woman’s son’s identity.

The court heard yesterday that sometime in 2010, the woman met and entered into a relationship with the ex-boyfriend.

She was married then, but was not living with her husband.

During this time, she gave birth to a boy. On his birth certificate, her then-husband, whom she later divorced in 2011, was named as the boy’s father.

The following year, the ex-boyfriend broke up with her as he suspected that the boy was not his son, despite the woman’s insistence that he was.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Chew Xin Ying told that court that the woman was unhappy and wanted her ex-boyfriend “to return to her and not marry anyone else”.

But she also knew that the boyfriend would not consent to marrying her, added Chew.

Proceeding with the plan she had in mind, the woman got hold of her ex-boyfriend’s identification card without his knowledge.

Subsequently, on Oct 3, 2012, she filed a notice of marriage on the Registry of Marriages website, stating her intention to marry her ex-boyfriend.

Ahead of the chosen solemnisation date on Oct 25, she approached Yeo, believed to be a friend of hers, to impersonate her ex-boyfriend and sign the marriage certificate. Yeo, who was married then, agreed to help her.

On the day of the solemnisation, Yeo forged the ex-boyfriend’s signature on the statutory declaration for the registration of marriages before a licensed commissioner for oaths.

After they were issued a marriage certificate, they met the marriage solemniser at a restaurant, where Yeo duped the solemniser into believing that he was the woman’s ex-boyfriend by producing the latter’s identification card.

The woman and Yeo then exchanged vows, rings, and signed the marriage certification — all of which were witnessed by the woman’s friend and mother.

Yeo is believed to have left the country. In mitigation, the woman’s lawyer, Diana Ngiam, said her client was suffering from acute stress reaction after the relationship ended, leading her to commit the offences.

For each of her offences, the woman could have been jailed up to three years and fined.

A Family Court order is needed to void the marriage in this instance. 

According to Ngiam, no application has been filed. — TODAY