TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Taichung court sentenced a man to 18 months in prison for forging documents for marriage in a case that involved the inheritance of a teenage millionaire who died hours after his marriage to the suspect.
On May 4, 2023, it was reported that an 18-year-old man surnamed Lai (賴) was found dead after falling from a building. The incident immediately aroused suspicion of foul play, because the young man had been persuaded hours earlier to marry the suspect, surnamed Hsia (夏).
On Friday (June 28), the court found that Hsia coerced the teenager into signing marriage documents under false pretenses, and the judge criticized him for abusing Taiwan’s marriage registration system for financial gain. Based on the seriousness of the case, Hsia was given one year and six months in jail, reported UDN.
Following Lai’s death, his mother told news outlets that her son was targeted by Hsia and others in an effort to steal his inheritance, which amounted to nearly NT$500 million (US$15.4 million). Lai’s friends and classmates also came forward to say that Lai was heterosexual and had never expressed romantic interest in Hsia or any other man.
Lai and Hsia reportedly met one another earlier in 2023 after Lai’s elderly and ailing father gifted Lai with some real estate. Hsia’s father is reportedly a government official who administers agreements for land rights, and oversaw the transfer of ownership of the property to Lai, and Hsia served as the witness on the transfer agreement.
In the weeks that followed, Hsia reportedly become a trusted advisor for Lai on legal and financial matters prior to the death of Lai’s father. Lai was reportedly anxious about potential legal battles for his father’s inheritance, and Hsia was able to manipulate the young man.
When Lai died just two hours after signing the marriage document with Hsia, his family and many others assumed that foul play was involved in his death. Ultimately, Lai’s death was deemed a suicide and Taichung prosecutors declined to bring charges related to his death.
However, investigations into the circumstances of the marriage union between Lai and Hsia revealed that Lai had been pressured by Hsia, acting as a legal advisor to sign the marriage documents. Several strangers, who were at the Ministry of Interior offices on May 4 were also persuaded under false pretenses to act as witnesses to the union.
Prosecutors successfully argued that these factors, and several issues with Hsia’s supplemental documents meant that the marriage contract was signed under false pretenses, making it invalid, which means that Hsia has no right to Lai's inheritance. CNA reports that the verdict can be appealed.
