By: Kheng-Liang Tan
The High Court has ruled that the CPF savings of a deceased man will go to his sisters instead of his China wife, as the marriage was a sham.
Mr. Soon Chwee Guan – who is unemployed – had married Ms. Diao Yanmei in a marriage of convenience sometime in October 2012 for an initial sum of $4,000. Thereafter, he was paid a monthly sum of $400 for the scheme.
The arrangement was so that the latter could successfully obtain her work permit as a spa therapist. Subsequently, Ms. Diao had obtained Permanent Residency.
Before the sham marriage, Mr. Soon had nominated his two sisters – Ms. Soon Ah See and Ms. Soon Ah Choon – as the beneficiaries to his CPF monies, understood to be about $170,000.
When Mr. Soon passed away in August 2013, this earlier nomination was revoked and the CPF monies would go to his wife instead under the CPF Act. His sisters were shocked as they were uninformed about his marriage.
They then filed a court injunction and the case subsequently went to trial.
Although Ms. Diao had claimed to love Mr. Soon, there were numerous loopholes in her testimonies, including having seafood with Mr. Soon even though he was allergic to seafood.
This led the Courts to believe that Mr. Soon had “no intention of benefiting [Ms. Soon] with his CPF monies”.