Couple fined for fake marriage scheme

A Chinese couple's attempt to emigrate to the United States by faking a divorce and marrying foreign spouses failed and resulted in a fine from the court, Today Morning Express in Zhejiang province reported.

A woman surnamed Hu, 44, and a man surnamed Ye, 45, from Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, divorced about 10 years ago and "married" foreigners, one female US citizen and one male Dominican, three months later with the help of an agency.

They paid for the flight and accommodation for their foreign "wife" and "husband", which was worth more than 30,000 yuan ($4,900), and paid the agency more than 70,000 yuan.

After the "marriage", however, their new "wife" and "husband" went back to the US and disappeared. The agency disappeared as well in 2011.

The "couple" finally decided to give up their dream, and both filed for divorce from their foreign spouses this year.

Coincidently, their divorce cases were heard on the same day by the same judge, who was able to discover their scheme.

The court, the people's court of Lucheng district in Wenzhou, then granted their requests of divorce but fined each of them 500 yuan.