Jiaying Chen, who once worked as a receptionist in a Los Angeles office, used the city’s lax marriage laws to wed 14 men between March 2019 and May 2024, siphoning off more than $280,000 to bankroll a record‑breaking gambling spree at the Wynn casino. She met the men through dating apps, proposed marriage within days, and then asked for funds citing a fictitious sick relative in China. After receiving the money, she cut all contact, leaving the men with empty bank accounts and broken trust.
Judge Crystal Eller, presiding over the case at the Clark County Courthouse, emphasized that the sentence was crafted to address Chen’s addiction and protect potential victims. "The punishment must be a deterrent," Eller said, citing the financial devastation inflicted on her former spouses. She added that the nearly one‑year term at Clark County Detention Center would give Chen a tangible taste of prison life, and warned that a repeat offense could result in up to 20 years behind bars.
Las Vegas permits marriage with minimal documentation, a factor that Chen exploited by securing 14 certificates—seven under her real name and seven under the alias Vicky Liang. The city’s marriage license bureau recorded her filings with identical voter registration details, a red flag that went unnoticed until investigators traced the pattern. The men, ranging from 35 to 55, were mostly professionals whose sudden loss of tens of thousands of dollars left them scrambling to recover.
The restitution order of $280,000—equivalent to ₹2.7 crore—covers the total amount Chen defrauded her victims of. Several men reported losses of $10,000 to $20,000 each, citing the abrupt disappearance of their partners and the apparent betrayal. While no single victim was named to protect their privacy, the court noted the collective impact on the community and the broader message that such exploitation would not be tolerated.
Chen’s sentence will be enforced starting Oct. 10, with credit for the time she already spent in custody. The court set a hearing for her potential appeal on Dec. 15, after which she will either remain in the detention center or transition to a supervised release program. The ruling underscores the judiciary’s stance on gambling‑related fraud and serves as a warning to those who might consider similar schemes.