According to an announcement by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), 25 people were charged this week for submitting forged academic certificates to obtain Singapore work passes.
All 25 pleaded guilty to charges of providing the false information to the Controller of Work Passes between May and August 2012. None of the accused possess university degree qualifications and have submitted forged certificates to improve their chances of obtaining the Singapore work pass. The offenders were hired in operations, sales, retail and other services industries.
24 furnished forged academic certificates from their home countries to apply for Singapore work passes. The remaining offender failed to inform MOM even though she was aware that a forged academic certificate was submitted by her employment agent on her behalf. They were arrested in May this year after MOM verified the authenticity of the documents with the institutions which purportedly issued the certificates.
We are encouraged to see that steps are taken to ensure that stringent checks are performed and those who cheat the system do not benefit at the expense of applicants with bona fide credentials.
As a result, twenty of the offenders will serve four weeks in prison as they were unable to pay the $5,000 fine. This is the largest number of such forgery cases yet. Last year, MOM successfully prosecuted 43 offenders for similar offences.
Commenting on the Ms. Christine Lim, General Manager of Rikvin said, “False declaration to bypass the higher Singapore work visa eligibility criteria is a wilful act of fraud. We are encouraged to see that steps are taken to ensure that stringent checks are performed and those who cheat the system do not benefit at the expense of applicants with bona fide credentials.”
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