A man in the southern province of Bạc Liệu has been sentenced to six months in prison for falsifying single status certificates to separately marry two women when he has not even divorced from his first wife.

Nguyễn Văn Thịnh, born in 1976, married his first wife in 2001 and they had two children. The couple got separated in 2009.

In 2011, Thịnh met and fell in love with a woman named N.T.P.T, born in 1988, and wanted to marry her.

Thịnh sought help from a contact who was able to provide false documents in the neighbouring province of Đồng Tháp, and paid him VNĐ2 million (US$86) for a fake single status certificate.

Using the fake certificate, Thịnh married T and they had one son together. However, Thịnh’s second wife discovered the truth about his first wife and decided to divorce him.

In late 2015, he tried using the same trick but the price for a fake certificate had increased to VNĐ5 million. Nevertheless, Thịnh married another woman and they had two children.

Thịnh’s third marriage lasted three years until he was once again found out and was sued for deception.

The saying “What is done by night, appears by day” is so true in this case. — VNS