Wife refuses divorce, Myanmar man forges certificate to wed pregnant mistress in S’pore
A married Myanmar national who had an affair after coming to Singapore for work forged a divorce certificate to marry his pregnant mistress after his wife refused to divorce him.
Aung Zaw Moe, 51, was sentenced to 18 weeks’ jail on Oct 7.
He faced four charges, including using a forged document, making false declarations and bigamy, and had pleaded guilty to two of them on Sept 15.
According to Shin Min Daily News, Aung married a Myanmar woman, now 44, in his home country in 2005. Their son was born in 2008.
He came to Singapore for work in 2011 and kept in touch with his wife through Facebook, while providing financial support for her and their son.
In March 2015, he met another Myanmar woman in Singapore, and the pair began an affair the following year.
Although the woman knew that Aung was married and had not divorced his wife, she was willing to be his mistress.
Cuts off contact with wife, forges divorce certificate
In 2019, Aung stopped providing financial support for his wife and son and ceased contacting his wife.
Before February 2023, his wife discovered the affair and publicly exposed him on Facebook. Aung subsequently asked for a divorce, but his wife refused.
Wanting to marry his mistress in Singapore, Aung enlisted the help of a friend in Myanmar to forge a certificate stating that he had divorced his wife on July 5, 2011.
After learning that his mistress was pregnant, he used the forged certificate as proof that he was divorced and successfully registered a marriage with her in Singapore.
On March 31, 2023, Aung used the forged divorce certificate again when applying for Singapore permanent residency.
Asks to defer jail term after sentencing
When Aung pleaded guilty, he told the court that he needed time to settle personal matters. The judge subsequently adjourned sentencing to Oct 7.
After hearing his sentence, Aung applied to defer serving his jail term by another two weeks.
He told the court that his son was still young and that his current partner was also working in Singapore.
He added that he would be deported to Myanmar after his release and barred from returning to Singapore, and therefore needed more time to make arrangements.
Although the prosecution objected, pointing out that Aung had already been given time to settle his affairs, the judge ultimately granted his request to defer his jail term.
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