Vegas Bride Ordered to Repay $280K

Row of slot machines in a casino — Photo: Virrage Images / Shutterstock

A Las Vegas woman turned marriage into a money-making scheme to fund her gambling habit, and a judge just ordered her to pay back more than $280,000.

Story Snapshot

Jiaying Chen, 33, pleaded guilty to felony bigamy and obtaining money under false pretenses in Clark County District Court.
Police say Chen filed 14 marriage license applications between March 2019 and May 2024, resulting in seven marriage certificates.
A judge ordered Chen to pay $280,062.86 in restitution to nine victims and attend Gamblers Anonymous.
Prosecutors say Chen used the alias Vicky Liang along with a forged driver’s license and passport.

Years of Marriages Across Clark County

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police built their case around marriage license records. Arrest documents show Chen submitted 14 applications to the Clark County Marriage License Bureau between March 2019 and May 2024. Seven of those applications turned into actual marriage certificates, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Investigators say Chen married five men in a single month this year alone.

Court records describe a pattern where Chen pursued relationships with men, married some of them, and then disappeared with their money. A criminal complaint reviewed by the Los Angeles Times alleged Chen took roughly $138,000 from at least three men during the scheme. Investigators also linked Chen to a fake identity used to hide her tracks.

Guilty Plea Closes the Criminal Case

Chen pleaded guilty in July to one count of felony bigamy and one count of obtaining money under false pretenses. The plea resolved a broader case that had included additional allegations tied to forgery and theft. Court documents obtained by Las Vegas television station KSNV described a forged Nevada driver’s license and a forged U.S. passport carrying the alias Vicky Liang.

The guilty plea locked in criminal responsibility for the two counts Chen admitted. It did not require prosecutors to prove every detail of the original complaint in court. That distinction matters because early reporting described a wider range of allegations than the final charges Chen formally admitted to.

Judge Orders Repayment and Addiction Treatment

Judge Crystal Eller sentenced Chen to time in the Clark County Detention Center, with credit for 125 days already served. The judge also placed Chen on probation and ordered her to attend Gamblers Anonymous meetings along with gambling-addiction counseling. Prosecutors told the court nine victims filed restitution claims ranging from $8,142 to $80,920 each.

Court TV reported the total restitution order reached $280,062.86. Some outlets listed the figure slightly differently, at $280,628.86, but the court’s own order set the repayment amount Chen now owes her victims. The sentence combined jail time, financial penalties, and mandatory treatment in one package.

Defense Points to Gambling Addiction

Chen’s attorney, Thomas Wells, told the judge his client felt genuine remorse and wanted to repay the men she defrauded. Wells argued Chen needed to work, not sit in jail, to earn money for restitution. Chen said through an interpreter that she planned to take a job at a friend’s sushi restaurant in Florida after her release.

The defense framed compulsive gambling as the driving force behind Chen’s conduct, according to reporting from ZeroHedge. Chen herself told the court she struggled with a gambling addiction and hoped to recover after years of losses at Las Vegas casinos.

A Known Link Between Gambling and Financial Crime

Chen’s case fits a documented pattern researchers have studied for years. A clinical review found that 43.3% of people diagnosed with gambling disorder reported committing gambling-related illegal acts, most often writing bad checks or stealing money. A separate academic review of 21 studies found gambling-linked crime usually involves nonviolent offenses like fraud and theft rather than violent acts.

Those broader patterns do not prove every detail of Chen’s individual case, but they show her conduct mirrors a recognized criminal pathway. Courts across the country have treated gambling addiction as a contributing factor in financial fraud cases, sometimes weighing it during sentencing decisions. Chen’s mandatory addiction counseling reflects that same approach.