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Third Case of Forged Passes Hidden in Red Packets (Ang Pow)
Following two successful arrests of a 43 year-old male Malaysian and a 54 year-old male Singaporean caught with forged Employment Passes and Safety Orientation Certificate (SOC) cards hidden in red packets on 11 Jun 2003 and 25 Jun 2003 respectively, Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers yesterday foil yet another attempt by a 39 year-old male Malaysian to smuggle forged Singapore Identity Cards (NRIC) and forged Employment Passes in red packets.
2 On 11 Jul 2003, after weeks of investigation, ICA officers laid an ambush at the Arrival Car Bay of Woodlands Checkpoint for the male Malaysian suspected to be a runner of a foreign-based forged card syndicate. The syndicate is believed to be producing and selling forged Employment Passes and NRIC to immigration offenders in Singapore.
3 At about 1955 hours, ICA officers spotted a Malaysian registered dark blue car suspected to be driven by the runner and signalled it to stop for checks. A body search was conducted on the man and ICA officers found four red packets hidden in his shoes. Inside the red packets, 2 forged blue NRIC, 16 forged Employment Passes, 15 forged SOC cards and 18 photocopies of People's Republic of China (PRC) passport bio-data page were found. The male Malaysian was immediately placed under arrest and the car seized.
4 Preliminary investigation revealed that similar to the previous two cases, the 39 year-old male Malaysian had intended to use the same ruse of hiding forged passes in red packets to avoid detection. He was promised RM 30/- for every successful delivery of a set of forged Employment Pass, a SOC and a photocopy of PRC passport bio-data page into Singapore.
5 The forged Employment Passes had coarse and distorted Micro-line text when viewed under magnifying glass. The colour tone and font size/type of the forged cards are also different from the genuine Employment Pass. As for the forged NRIC, the Micro-line text was coarse and unreadable when viewed under magnifying glass. The changeable laser image also did not display the holographic effect when viewed at different angles unlike the genuine NRIC.
6 The male Malaysian has been referred to the Police for further investigation into the forgery of Government documents and will be charged in court. "This is the third case of forged passes found in Ang Pows, our officers will continue to maintain a high level of vigilance to look out for attempts to smuggle forged cards into Singapore," said Mr Hashim B Sheik Ahmad, Head (Intelligence Operations).
7 The Singapore authorities take a serious view of attempts to forge immigration cards and other related documents. For forgery of passes or in possession of forged passes, the offender faces an imprisonment for a term up to 7 years and shall also be liable to a fine.
END OF NEWS RELEASE
Immigration & Checkpoints Authority
12 Jul 2003
2 On 11 Jul 2003, after weeks of investigation, ICA officers laid an ambush at the Arrival Car Bay of Woodlands Checkpoint for the male Malaysian suspected to be a runner of a foreign-based forged card syndicate. The syndicate is believed to be producing and selling forged Employment Passes and NRIC to immigration offenders in Singapore.
3 At about 1955 hours, ICA officers spotted a Malaysian registered dark blue car suspected to be driven by the runner and signalled it to stop for checks. A body search was conducted on the man and ICA officers found four red packets hidden in his shoes. Inside the red packets, 2 forged blue NRIC, 16 forged Employment Passes, 15 forged SOC cards and 18 photocopies of People's Republic of China (PRC) passport bio-data page were found. The male Malaysian was immediately placed under arrest and the car seized.
4 Preliminary investigation revealed that similar to the previous two cases, the 39 year-old male Malaysian had intended to use the same ruse of hiding forged passes in red packets to avoid detection. He was promised RM 30/- for every successful delivery of a set of forged Employment Pass, a SOC and a photocopy of PRC passport bio-data page into Singapore.
5 The forged Employment Passes had coarse and distorted Micro-line text when viewed under magnifying glass. The colour tone and font size/type of the forged cards are also different from the genuine Employment Pass. As for the forged NRIC, the Micro-line text was coarse and unreadable when viewed under magnifying glass. The changeable laser image also did not display the holographic effect when viewed at different angles unlike the genuine NRIC.
6 The male Malaysian has been referred to the Police for further investigation into the forgery of Government documents and will be charged in court. "This is the third case of forged passes found in Ang Pows, our officers will continue to maintain a high level of vigilance to look out for attempts to smuggle forged cards into Singapore," said Mr Hashim B Sheik Ahmad, Head (Intelligence Operations).
7 The Singapore authorities take a serious view of attempts to forge immigration cards and other related documents. For forgery of passes or in possession of forged passes, the offender faces an imprisonment for a term up to 7 years and shall also be liable to a fine.
END OF NEWS RELEASE
Immigration & Checkpoints Authority
12 Jul 2003