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A Pledge Of Regret
If it ever crosses your mind that you can just use important documents such as your passport as collateral to secure repayment of your loan, think carefully. If you consider it a trivial matter to make a false declaration in your application for a passport, do think again. Else, you could find yourself ending up just like this Singaporean.
2. On 1 February 2011, a 38-year-old Singaporean man had travelled to Vietnam looking for business opportunities. He was also there in search of his estranged Vietnamese wife who had left home some time back. Alone in a foreign land, the destitute man frequented a casino where he sustained huge losses of more than S$10,000. As with most avid gamblers, he refused to relent to his poor luck. Out of desperation, he succumbed to borrowing US$12,000 from another fellow gambler, “Johnny” at the same casino to recoup his losses. Eventually, the man lost it all at the gambling table.
3. “Johnny” had asked the man to sign a “Personal Loan Agreement Form” which required him to repay the loan after three days, together with an interest of US$4,500 within 10 days. Left without any other choice, the man signed on the document and handed over his passport to “Johnny” as collateral.
4. As the man knew very well that he would not be able to repay the loan by the deadline and that his Visit Pass in Vietnam was expiring, he sought help at the Consulate-General of Singapore in Ho Chi Minh City since he did not have his passport with him, hoping to return to Singapore. However, he stated in his declaration the reason for the application of the Document of Identity (DOI) in lieu of his passport was that he had dropped the passport.
5. He returned to Singapore on 1 March 2011 and was advised by the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer to apply for a new passport. Three days later, he reported to ICA to apply for a new passport and declared that his passport” was taken away by a motorbike rider” this time.
6. The man had naively thought pledging his passport as collateral to “Johnny” and declaring false statements in his applications for the DOI and passport were just trivial actions that would be undetected by the authorities.
7. Fong Poh Huat was charged in Court on 17 June 2011 for making a false statement to the Consulate-General of Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in his application for the DOI. He was also charged for making a false statement at the ICA in his application for his passport. On 30 November 2011, Fong Poh Huat was convicted of the two charges and was sentenced to 3 months imprisonment.
8. The ICA takes a serious view of attempts by Singaporeans who abuse their passport. Under the Passport Act (Section 39), any person who makes or gives false or misleading statements or information in connection with an application for a Singapore passport or a Singapore travel document; or a report of the loss, theft or destruction of a Singapore passport or a Singapore travel document shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or to both. Apart from taking legal actions against Singaporeans who abuse their passport, the ICA also reserves the rights to undertake administrative actions to deny issuing passports to those who have previously abused them.
9. Everyone has a part to play in keeping Singapore safe and secure. We urge Singaporeans to safeguard their passports to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands.
IMMIGRATION & CHECKPOINTS AUTHORITY
5 DECEMBER 2011
2. On 1 February 2011, a 38-year-old Singaporean man had travelled to Vietnam looking for business opportunities. He was also there in search of his estranged Vietnamese wife who had left home some time back. Alone in a foreign land, the destitute man frequented a casino where he sustained huge losses of more than S$10,000. As with most avid gamblers, he refused to relent to his poor luck. Out of desperation, he succumbed to borrowing US$12,000 from another fellow gambler, “Johnny” at the same casino to recoup his losses. Eventually, the man lost it all at the gambling table.
3. “Johnny” had asked the man to sign a “Personal Loan Agreement Form” which required him to repay the loan after three days, together with an interest of US$4,500 within 10 days. Left without any other choice, the man signed on the document and handed over his passport to “Johnny” as collateral.
4. As the man knew very well that he would not be able to repay the loan by the deadline and that his Visit Pass in Vietnam was expiring, he sought help at the Consulate-General of Singapore in Ho Chi Minh City since he did not have his passport with him, hoping to return to Singapore. However, he stated in his declaration the reason for the application of the Document of Identity (DOI) in lieu of his passport was that he had dropped the passport.
5. He returned to Singapore on 1 March 2011 and was advised by the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer to apply for a new passport. Three days later, he reported to ICA to apply for a new passport and declared that his passport” was taken away by a motorbike rider” this time.
6. The man had naively thought pledging his passport as collateral to “Johnny” and declaring false statements in his applications for the DOI and passport were just trivial actions that would be undetected by the authorities.
7. Fong Poh Huat was charged in Court on 17 June 2011 for making a false statement to the Consulate-General of Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in his application for the DOI. He was also charged for making a false statement at the ICA in his application for his passport. On 30 November 2011, Fong Poh Huat was convicted of the two charges and was sentenced to 3 months imprisonment.
8. The ICA takes a serious view of attempts by Singaporeans who abuse their passport. Under the Passport Act (Section 39), any person who makes or gives false or misleading statements or information in connection with an application for a Singapore passport or a Singapore travel document; or a report of the loss, theft or destruction of a Singapore passport or a Singapore travel document shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or to both. Apart from taking legal actions against Singaporeans who abuse their passport, the ICA also reserves the rights to undertake administrative actions to deny issuing passports to those who have previously abused them.
9. Everyone has a part to play in keeping Singapore safe and secure. We urge Singaporeans to safeguard their passports to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands.
IMMIGRATION & CHECKPOINTS AUTHORITY
5 DECEMBER 2011