TO PREPARE for his sham wedding, Raymond Wee Kian Seng scanned a copy of his original wedding certificate into his laptop.

He then changed the details on the scanned copy of the certificate to reflect his girlfriend's and witnesses' names and the date and venue of their upcoming"solemnisation ceremony".

When he was done, he printed out a copy of the fake certificate and kept it in the holder of his original marriage certificate.

Around the same time in December2008, Wee, 37, approached his colleague, Ainagoundan Kattan, 53, for help to "solemnise" his fake marriage.

The court heard that Wee had lied to Ainagoundan that his marriage with his wife, Madam Frances Pang Yoke Khoon, 34,was on the rocks and that he was arranging a marriage with another woman.

Wee asked Ainagoundan, who is not authorised to conduct weddings, to act as the Justice of Peace and said he would pay him.

On the afternoon of Dec27, 2008, Wee, together with his new bride, her parents and her two brothers, went to The Pines country club on Stevens Road.

The bride's family also invited some close friends and relatives to attend the ceremony, which was held at the poolside.

Rings

Ainagoundan "solemnised" the marriage, getting the couple to exchange marriage vows and wedding rings.

After telling the couple and their witnesses to sign on the fake marriage certificate, Ainagoundan pronounced the couple "man and wife".

Wee gave Ainagoundan a red packet containing $150.

Ainagoundan, who is not authorised to solemnise marriages, has since been charged. His case is pending.

This article was first published in The New Paper.

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