Authorities say Las Vegas resident Jiaying Chen was arrested after marrying 14 men and using money from those relationships to support a gambling habit.
According to reports, Chen, 33, allegedly obtained 14 marriage certificates in Clark County since March 2019 as part of what prosecutors describe as an elaborate scheme.
The accusations claim the marriages were not about romance but about money.
And if true, this was one relationship strategy that definitely did not come with a “happily ever after” ending.
The alleged plan reportedly involved using funds from the men to support gambling activities at the luxurious Wynn Las Vegas.
Using a fake ID under the name ‘Vicky Liang’ for seven years, Chen convinced her husbands to send her more than $100,000 collectively by claiming she desperately needed the funds to help sick relatives in China, prosecutors said.
Chen instead spent the money gambling at the luxury Wynn casino on the Las Vegas Strip, where she lost more than $300,000 in the last year alone, according to police.
‘It appears the money she has obtained goes to gambling and not relatives overseas,’ police said, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Chen appeared in court for a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, and she plans to plead guilty later this week to one count each of bigamy and obtaining money under false pretenses, her lawyer told the Review-Journal.
The accused swindler was initially arrested in 2024, but was released on bond and somehow managed to evade law enforcement until this year.
Chen was caught in a joint sting by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) and the Department of Homeland Security on June 4 after they received a tip that she was planning to meet a man at a restaurant to discuss getting married.
For now, authorities are investigating, the court process continues, and everyone else is watching this unbelievable story unfold.
