Police: Woman wed multiple men in Vegas fraud scheme

A Chinese woman with a fake passport is accused of marrying multiple men in the Las Vegas Valley, duping them out of tens of thousands of dollars and then vanishing from their lives.

A Clark County prosecutor said in court Wednesday that Jiaying Chen, 33, got married five times this year in a matter of months. Two Metropolitan Police Department arrest reports for Chen cumulatively identify 14 different marriage certificates in Clark County under her name and an alias, Vicky Liang, since 2019.

Police said in arrest reports that Chen used an alias, fraudulent identifications and repeatedly lied on multiple Clark County marriage applications to carry out the alleged fraud. The Clark County Marriage Bureau reported her to police as part of a 2024 investigation, around the same time men reported being swindled by Chen after meeting her on the social media platform WeChat.

“After a short time Chen would suggest they get married,” police said. “Chen would provide different stories, some involving sick family members in China and would start asking for money. Once Chen received the money she would break all communication with them.”

Police said Marriage License Bureau records showed that Chen submitted 14 marriage applications between March 11, 2019, and May 27, 2024.

Several of the alleged victims reported losing tens of thousands of dollars. One man told police he gave Chen $40,000 to help a sick family member in China and was never repaid. Another said that immediately after he married Chen, she asked for $23,000 to help a sick family member. Two weeks after giving her the money, police said, Chen told him “she didn’t want to be married anymore to him.”

Another man told a similar story of losing $20,000. Yet another said he dated Chen for a year before marrying her, police said. She suggested saving for a house, so he and his family collected about $30,000, which he gave to Chen.

“Once he gave the money to Chen, she stopped talking to him and he couldn’t find her,” police said.

In yet another case, police said a man told them he was pursuing an annulment of his marriage to Chen when she married another man before the annulment was final.

A woman listed as a victim in police reports told officers that Chen also victimized her, allegedly carrying out a check cashing scheme by writing bad checks from a man’s account, swindling her out of $40,000.

In August 2024, Chen was charged by Clark County prosecutors with bigamy and theft of more than $100,000. She never showed for an initial appearance and an arrest warrant was issued, according to Las Vegas Justice Court records.

In June, police said they received a tip that Chen was planning to meet a man at a Las Vegas restaurant to discuss getting married. Both Metro officers and Homeland Security investigators set up surveillance and arrested her. Police said Chen had a fraudulent passport and a fake Nevada driver’s license.

This time Chen was arrested on suspicion of bigamy, theft of more than $25,000 and forgery. She is being held at the Clark County Detention Center.

Contact Glenn Puit at gpuit@reviewjournal.com.