Following the “brickthrough” discovery by officers from the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) on 2 May 2008 when they busted an attempt to smuggle in 3,936 cartons of cigarettes by hiding them in the middle of 22 pallets of bricks, the ICA officers worked tirelessly and uncovered an attempt to provide forged Employment Passes, forged Singapore blue Identity Cards (ICs), forged Safety Orientation Certificate (SOC) cards as well as other forged documents to immigration offenders to “legalise” their stay in Singapore.

2 At about 0740 hrs on 8 May 2008, ICA officers stopped and checked a male Malaysian Indian at Woodlands Centre Road. During the check, the ICA officers found 19 photocopies of the bio-data page of passports from the People’s Republic of China hidden at the back of his pants. Further checks by the officers found several cards, which were believed to be forged, hidden inside the socks worn by the male subject. These forged cards include the following:

(a) 3 forged Singapore blue ICs;
(b) 10 forged Employment Pass cards;
(c) 2 forged S-pass cards;
(d) 5 forged Work Permit Cards;
(e) 1 forged Long Term Visit Pass and
(f) 12 SOC cards.

 

Case picture 1 : Forged cards hidden inside socks

Case picture 2 : Forged cards retrieved from socks

 

3 Preliminary investigations revealed that the 25-year-old male took up this “job” of a courier to
deliver the forged cards from Johor Bahru to Singapore as he was in financial difficulties. He was promised RM100 if he successfully delivered the forged cards to Singapore. The subject, together with the seized forged documents, was referred to the Singapore Police Force for further investigations.

Case picture 3 : Seized forged documents

 

Case picture 4 : Total exhibits

4 ICA takes a serious view of attempts by foreigners to overstay or enter Singapore illegally. Under the Immigration Act (Cap 133), the penalties for overstaying or illegal entry are a jail term of up to six months plus a minimum of three strokes of the cane.

5 ICA would also like to remind the public that it is an offence to offer shelter and employment to immigration offenders. Homeowners can make use of ICA’s online checking system, called “VERIFI” (or Verification of Foreigner Immigration Status) to verify the immigration passes of their prospective tenants. VERIFI can be accessed through ICA’s internet website: http://www.ica.gov.sg and allows users to receive an instantaneous reply on the validity of the immigration passes presented to them. Similarly, MOM has a system to allow the checking on the validity of work passes at its website: http://www.mom.gov.sg. Everyone has a part to play in keeping Singapore safe and secure. We urge members of public with information regarding immigration offenders to call ICA at Tel: 1800-391 6150 or contact the Police.

END OF NEWS RELEASE


Immigration & Checkpoints Authority
9 May 2008