A Las Vegas woman has pleaded guilty to a scheme in which she married more than a dozen men to finance her $300,000 gambling addiction.

Las Vegas is known as the wedding capital of the world, with marriage laws that make getting married easy.

Jiaying Chen, 33, took advantage of the city's lax marriage laws to marry men she met online and scam them out of tens of thousands of dollars, according to police.

Chen pleaded guilty to one count of bigamy and one count of obtaining money by deception in excess of $100,000, his lawyer, Thomas Wells, told The Independent.

Chen's lawyer indicated that the sentencing hearing is scheduled for August 20.

Chen met men on social media and quickly proposed to them, the Review-Journal reported, citing police. She reportedly asked for money, often claiming she needed to help a sick relative in China.

“Once Chen received the money, he cut off all communication with them,” police stated.

“When Chen stopped communicating with them, some of the men sought an annulment of the marriage in court, but others claimed to remain married to her.”

Between March 2019 and May 2024, Chen obtained seven marriage certificates from the Clark County Marriage License Bureau, the Review-Journal reported, citing an arrest report from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

After being arrested in 2024 on multiple charges of bigamy and theft, Chen was released and then disappeared. The woman was reportedly arrested again in Las Vegas last month.

Since his initial arrest, Chen used the alias Vicky Liang to obtain seven more Clark County marriage certificates, police reported.

Authorities reported that Chen lost more than $300,000 at the Wynn casino on the Las Vegas Strip last year, and that “the money he obtained apparently went to gambling and not to relatives abroad.”

One man testified that Chen asked him for $23,000 to help a sick family member immediately after they got married. Two weeks after receiving the money, Chen told him that she “no longer wanted to be married to him,” according to police.

Another man testified that she suggested he save for a house, so he gave her about $30,000. “Once he gave the money to Chen, she stopped talking to him and he couldn't find her,” police reported.

In 2024, Chen admitted to police that he “only performs fake marriages in Las Vegas because it is very easy to get married there.”

Clark County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Austin Beaumont told the Review-Journal of the plea deal: “It will allow victims of these crimes to file restitution reports with the court and, ideally, obtain reimbursement from the defendant for the money she has stolen.”