Las Vegas woman jailed after defrauding 14 husbands to fund gambling addiction
Jiaying Chen, a 34-year-old Las Vegas woman, has been sentenced to probation after marrying 14 different men to fund her gambling addiction. She was convicted of bigamy, fraud and obtaining money under false pretences, with the scheme devastating her victims financially and emotionally.
Using a fake identity for seven years, Chen convinced her husbands to send her over £100,000 by claiming she needed funds for sick relatives in China. She actually used the money to gamble at the Wynn casino, where she lost more than £300,000 in a single year; she told detectives she could obtain up to £20,000 per marriage and found Las Vegas convenient for conducting the frauds.
- Married 14 men using fake identity to fund £300,000 annual casino losses
- Deceived husbands about needing money for sick relatives in China
- Sentenced to probation and mandatory gambling addiction counselling
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Jiaying Chen, a 34-year-old from Las Vegas, was convicted of marrying at least 14 different men over seven years whilst using a fake identity. She persuaded each one to send her money by claiming she needed funds for sick relatives in China, but she actually used the money to fund her gambling addiction.
Through the scheme, Chen obtained over £100,000 from her victims, causing substantial financial and emotional harm. She lost more than £300,000 in a single year gambling in Las Vegas, revealing the extreme scale of her addiction.
Her case illustrates how compulsive gambling can drive serious criminal behaviour and how people can be exploited through romantic deception. Chen told investigators she deliberately chose Las Vegas for convenience and estimated she could extract up to £20,000 from each marriage.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Gambling addiction is a recognised psychological disorder affecting judgment and impulse control; Chen's compulsive losses suggest addiction rather than calculated greed. Probation with mandatory treatment addresses the root cause more effectively than incarceration, which typically exacerbates addiction and increases recidivism. This sentence reflects evidence-based criminal justice that prioritises rehabilitation over purely punitive measures.
The case against
Chen deliberately deceived 14 vulnerable men across seven years using a false identity to systematically obtain funds, demonstrating calculated premeditation rather than impulsive conduct. Her victims endured genuine financial and emotional devastation through betrayal of intimate trust; addiction, whilst tragic, does not excuse deliberate harm to innocent people. Probation appears disproportionately lenient for such extensive, repeated fraud and fails to provide meaningful accountability or proportionate justice to those deceived.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Bigamous ‘runaway bride’ who had 14 husbands and married five men in one month to fund her Las Vegas casino habit is sentenced to probation”.