A 26-year-old male Singapore Citizen, Xu Yixuan, was sentenced to seven months’ imprisonment on 12 August 2021 for harbouring an immigration offender. A second charge of harbouring another immigration offender was taken into consideration during sentencing.

2.          During a joint operation by the Police and the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) on 4 November 2019 at a residential unit in Tampines, two female PRC nationals, Huang Huoying and He Lei, were found to have been engaging in vice activities in the said unit. Both had overstayed in Singapore.

3.          The ICA conducted further checks on the main tenant of the unit and arrested Xu on 24 March 2020. Investigations revealed that Xu had signed the tenancy agreement of the residential unit sometime in October 2019. He then sublet the unit to both Huang and He on 27 October 2019 for rental fees of $110 and $120 per day, respectively. Xu continued to live at his own residence in Woodlands.

4.          As Xu did not exercise due diligence in ascertaining that the PRC nationals’ immigration passes were valid at the point when he sublet the unit to them, he had committed an offence of harbouring immigration offenders under the Immigration Act. Both Huang and He have since been administered with warnings for their overstaying offences.

5.          The ICA takes a firm stance against any person who harbours immigration offenders. Those who wish to rent their premises must exercise due diligence in checking the status of their prospective foreign tenants to ensure that their status in Singapore is legal. They are required to conduct the three mandatory checks:

1. Check the tenant’s original immigration/work pass;
2. Cross check the particulars on his/her pass against the particulars on his/her original passport; and
3. Verify the validity of his/her pass by checking with the issuing authority (i.e. the Ministry of Manpower for work passes and the ICA for immigration passes).

6.          If any person is found guilty of recklessly (i.e. carrying out only one of the three due diligence checks) or knowingly harbouring overstayers and/or illegal immigrants, he may be sentenced to imprisonment for a presumptive minimum term of not less than six months and not more than two years and a fine not exceeding S$6,000. If any person is found guilty of negligently (i.e. carrying out only two of the three due diligence checks) harbouring overstayers and/or illegal immigrants, he may be sentenced to a fine not exceeding S$6,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.

IMMIGRATION & CHECKPOINTS AUTHORITY
12 AUGUST 2021