Taiwanese allegedly coerced critically ill Singapore businessman to marry her

A Taiwanese woman has been arrested after she allegedly coerced a terminally-ill Singaporean businessman to marry her just 18 days before his death, media reports said.

Huang Kuan-chen, 55, was detained on Tuesday (June 7) and is under investigation by Taiwanese authorities for suspected fraud, Focus Taiwan News reported on Wednesday (June 8).

Her alleged accomplice Liu Wen-pin, a 63-year-old land agent, has also been arrested.

The arrest came more than a year after Huang married businessman Pua Ching Kiong to get at his NT$100 million (S$4.2 million) fortune, Taiwanese media reports said quoting Taiwan's Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB).

Mr Pua, 73, who owned Pua Loong Trading Company, met Huang at a religious event 30 years ago, the media, which included Apple Daily and TVBS, said.

They met again in 2014, and she learnt that he was single and was worth millions, Focus Taiwan News quoted Taiwan's CIB as saying.

Mr Pua was the sole proprieter of Pua Loong Trading which sells Dragon Balm, a liniment for aches and pains.

Huang and Liu asked Mr Pua to move to Taiwan and they offered to help him market dragon balm there.

They also promised to help him get medical treatment for his diabetic condition.

Mr Pua agreed and arrived in Taichung in December 2014. He bought a return ticket, but stayed on in Taiwan beyond his planned date of return.

In early 2015, he was hospitalised several times with diabetes, an enlarged prostate, and other health problems, Focus Taiwan News quoted CIB as saying.

Huang allegedly used fake receipts of more than S$42,000 and asked Pua's family in Singapore to reimburse her for his medical bills.

On February 24, 2015, Pua's condition worsened and he sought emergency treatment at the hospital.

That afternoon, sitting in a wheelchair, he registered his marriage with Huang. Reports say that Liu, 63, was the witness.

Less than a month later, on March 13 last year, Pua died and Huang filed a court case in Singapore to obtain his assets, reports said.

Pua's family too filed a suit in Taichung to declare the marriage between Pua and Huang void.

Mr Pua's nurse later confessed to the police that she had been bribed to help Huang and Liu, Lianhe Wanbao reported.

She said that Huang guided Mr Pua's right hand as he signed the marriage certificate.

Some Taiwanese reports, including Apple Daily and TVBS, used the photo of another Singaporean businessman with the same Chinese name as Mr Pua in their articles on the fraud.

The news outlets mistook Mr Pang Chin Keong, 65, Basketball Association of Singapore vice-president, to be the victim.

Mr Pang's and Mr Pua's names are written with the same Chinese characters.

However, Mr Pang, alive and well, told Lianhe Zaobao on Thursday (June 9) that he is in Penang but have asked friends in Taiwan to find out why the mistake happened.

This article was first published on June 09, 2016.
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