On 11 August 2026, Tan Khi Wie (“Tan”), a 58-year-old Singaporean, was sentenced to 14 months’ and three weeks’ imprisonment after being convicted for six charges under the Immigration Act and Penal Code comprising of:

a)    Two counts of failure to present valid passport punishable under Section 5A(1)(a) of the Immigration Act

b)    One count of making false statement in arrival disembarkation card punishable under Section 57(1)(k) of the Immigration Act

c)    One count of knowingly producing false passport punishable under Section 28(4)(d) of the Immigration Act

d)    One count of illegal departure punishable under Section 5(4) of the Immigration Act

e)    One count of failure to attend court punishable under Section 174 of the Penal Code

2          16 other charges under the Immigration Act were taken into consideration for the purposes of sentencing.

Abscondment and subsequent arrest

3           Tan was earlier convicted and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment on 6 August 2002 for one count of cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating the then-Singapore Productivity and Standards Board into disbursing a grant of $195,800 under the Local Enterprise Technical Assistance Scheme.

4           Tan filed a notice of appeal against his conviction and sentence in August 2002. To avoid serving his sentence, he absconded from Singapore and subsequently failed to show up at a court mention on 21 January 2003 for the appeal. On 20 February 2003, a Warrant of Arrest was issued against him.

5           On 7 March 2026, Tan attempted to clear immigration at Changi Airport using an Indonesian passport under the false identity of ‘Ken Srona’. As he was unable to complete immigration clearance at the automated lanes, ICA officers conducted further checks which established his actual identity and revealed that he was wanted by the Police. Tan was detained and handed over to the Police.

Entering and departing Singapore illegally

6           Investigations by ICA revealed that Tan had departed Singapore illegally via a fishing boat sometime between August 2002 and January 2003. He first travelled to Pasir Gudang in Johor, Malaysia, before continuing to Thailand, and eventually Jakarta, Indonesia, where he resided thereafter.

7           Between 2011 and 2016, Tan had used Indonesian passports under the false identity of ‘Ken Srona’ to enter and depart Singapore on multiple occasions. Tan also falsely declared in his disembarkation forms he had never used a passport under a different name to enter Singapore.

8           ICA has strengthened its immigration clearance processes and systems by leveraging biometrics and data analytics. Since July 2020, ICA has put in place multi-modal biometric systems at the checkpoints to better detect persons using multiple or assumed identities. All automated lanes at Singapore’s land, sea and air checkpoints are equipped with iris and facial scanners. The concurrent use of these biometric identifiers provides a highly accurate means of authenticating travellers’ identities and further strengthens ICA’s ability to safeguard Singapore’s borders. ICA will not hesitate to take firm action against travellers who attempt to enter or depart Singapore using an impersonated identity or an identity different from that used during their previous trips to Singapore in order to circumvent ICA’s checks.

SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE

IMMIGRATION & CHECKPOINTS AUTHORITY