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Of Hares And Hounds
"Hare and hounds" is a game where two players, called "hares", having a few minutes' start, scatter bits of paper to indicate their course. The "hares" are chased by the others, called the "hounds", through a wide circuit. Several document forgers tried to play this game with us, without realising that we, the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA), play to win.
Operation on 10 September 2004
2. On 10 September 2004, ICA officers launched an operation and arrested three male Sri Lanka nationals that attempted to obtain legitimate Student's Passes through the use of forged educational certificates.
3. At about 1pm, the key player, Suspect 1 (S1), and his customer, Suspect 2 (S2) were spotted at the Visitor Services Centre of the ICA Building, producing school certificates together with a passport to the counter staff for verification and processing. Upon questioning, S1 claimed that the papers belonged to S2. In order to remain in Singapore to seek illegal employment, S2 had engaged S1's services to obtain a Student's Pass. S1 made arrangements for S2 to obtain forged school certificates from an unknown syndicate in Sri Lanka. He then asked S2 to accompany him to the ICA Building on 10 September 2004 to collect the Student's Pass.
4. S1 also brought another customer, Suspect 3 (S3) to the ICA Building to familiarise the latter with the Student's Pass collection process. S3 is an immigration offender. Having entered Singapore illegally, he engaged S1's services to 'legitimise' his stay in Singapore. As S3 did not have his passport with him, S1 arranged for a genuine passport to be made for S3 in Sri Lanka and got Suspect 4 (S4) to impersonate as S3, using S3's passport to enter Singapore. S1, S2 and S3 were arrested at the ICA Building.
5. Based on information given by S3 on the whereabouts of S4, ICA officers conducted an ambush at S4's residence in Hougang and arrested him. S1 also admitted that he had other customers, who were residing at Opal Crescent. ICA officers then proceeded to lay an ambush in the vicinity near the flat. The ambush resulted in the arrest of two men, one was a Sri Lankan overstayer. The other had a valid Student's Pass and confessed to being S1's customer as well. All six men have been referred to the Police for further investigation.
Operation on 13 September 2004
6. ICA officers busted a Bangladeshi syndicate specialising in tampering of Work Permit cards to sell to foreigners seeking illegal employment in Singapore. On 13 September 2004, acting on information received, ICA launched an operation and swooped down on the mastermind and two other Bangladeshi immigration offenders. The raid took place at a shop along Syed Alwi Road. One of the immigration offenders was found in possession of another person's Work Permit and Safety Operations Certificate. He claimed to have bought the cards for S$500. Whilst the other immigration offender was believed to have acted as the runner for the mastermind by selling and delivering the tampered cards for him for a fee of $20 to $30 per transaction.
7. Realising that the game was up, the mastermind led ICA officers to his place of residence in Hougang, where he did the tampering of the Work Permits. He told ICA officers that he had used cutter blades to scrape off the original digits on the Work Permits. He would then cut off digits from pages in dictionaries and stick them over scraped areas with glue. At his residence, ICA officers arrested another immigration offender from Bangladesh in possession a Work Permit with a tampered expiry date. He claimed to have bought the card for $400.
8. All four men were referred to the Police for further investigations
Related Penalties
Immigration Offences
9. 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.
Document Forgery
10. Section 465 of the Penal Code states that whoever commits forgery shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years, or with fine, or with both.
Personation
11. Section 419 of the Penal Code states that whoever cheats by personation shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 3 years, or with fine, or with both.
Abetment
12. Under Section 109 of the Penal Code, whoever abets any offence shall, if the act abetted is committed in consequence of the abetment, and no express provision is made by the Penal Code for the punishment for such an abetment, be punished with the punishment provided for the offence.
ICA's Warning
13. ICA would like to warn potential document forgers: if you intend to play pranks on us, we are always prepared to take up the challenge and win the game.
END OF NEWS RELEASE
Immigration & Checkpoints Authority
15 September 2004
Operation on 10 September 2004
2. On 10 September 2004, ICA officers launched an operation and arrested three male Sri Lanka nationals that attempted to obtain legitimate Student's Passes through the use of forged educational certificates.
3. At about 1pm, the key player, Suspect 1 (S1), and his customer, Suspect 2 (S2) were spotted at the Visitor Services Centre of the ICA Building, producing school certificates together with a passport to the counter staff for verification and processing. Upon questioning, S1 claimed that the papers belonged to S2. In order to remain in Singapore to seek illegal employment, S2 had engaged S1's services to obtain a Student's Pass. S1 made arrangements for S2 to obtain forged school certificates from an unknown syndicate in Sri Lanka. He then asked S2 to accompany him to the ICA Building on 10 September 2004 to collect the Student's Pass.
4. S1 also brought another customer, Suspect 3 (S3) to the ICA Building to familiarise the latter with the Student's Pass collection process. S3 is an immigration offender. Having entered Singapore illegally, he engaged S1's services to 'legitimise' his stay in Singapore. As S3 did not have his passport with him, S1 arranged for a genuine passport to be made for S3 in Sri Lanka and got Suspect 4 (S4) to impersonate as S3, using S3's passport to enter Singapore. S1, S2 and S3 were arrested at the ICA Building.
5. Based on information given by S3 on the whereabouts of S4, ICA officers conducted an ambush at S4's residence in Hougang and arrested him. S1 also admitted that he had other customers, who were residing at Opal Crescent. ICA officers then proceeded to lay an ambush in the vicinity near the flat. The ambush resulted in the arrest of two men, one was a Sri Lankan overstayer. The other had a valid Student's Pass and confessed to being S1's customer as well. All six men have been referred to the Police for further investigation.
Operation on 13 September 2004
6. ICA officers busted a Bangladeshi syndicate specialising in tampering of Work Permit cards to sell to foreigners seeking illegal employment in Singapore. On 13 September 2004, acting on information received, ICA launched an operation and swooped down on the mastermind and two other Bangladeshi immigration offenders. The raid took place at a shop along Syed Alwi Road. One of the immigration offenders was found in possession of another person's Work Permit and Safety Operations Certificate. He claimed to have bought the cards for S$500. Whilst the other immigration offender was believed to have acted as the runner for the mastermind by selling and delivering the tampered cards for him for a fee of $20 to $30 per transaction.
7. Realising that the game was up, the mastermind led ICA officers to his place of residence in Hougang, where he did the tampering of the Work Permits. He told ICA officers that he had used cutter blades to scrape off the original digits on the Work Permits. He would then cut off digits from pages in dictionaries and stick them over scraped areas with glue. At his residence, ICA officers arrested another immigration offender from Bangladesh in possession a Work Permit with a tampered expiry date. He claimed to have bought the card for $400.
8. All four men were referred to the Police for further investigations
Related Penalties
Immigration Offences
9. 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.
Document Forgery
10. Section 465 of the Penal Code states that whoever commits forgery shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years, or with fine, or with both.
Personation
11. Section 419 of the Penal Code states that whoever cheats by personation shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 3 years, or with fine, or with both.
Abetment
12. Under Section 109 of the Penal Code, whoever abets any offence shall, if the act abetted is committed in consequence of the abetment, and no express provision is made by the Penal Code for the punishment for such an abetment, be punished with the punishment provided for the offence.
ICA's Warning
13. ICA would like to warn potential document forgers: if you intend to play pranks on us, we are always prepared to take up the challenge and win the game.
END OF NEWS RELEASE
Immigration & Checkpoints Authority
15 September 2004