ICA arrests China national with forged S
Passes
By Joanne Leow, Channel NewsAsia
SINGAPORE : The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority has arrested
a man from China with forged documents in his possession.
He is believed to be part of a syndicate producing and selling
forged S Passes to immigration offenders.
An S Pass is a new category of work pass intended to meet
industries' needs for middle level skilled manpower, especially
specialised workers and technicians.
This is the first time ICA has come across forged S passes.
He faces up to seven years in jail and a fine.
The forged S Passes had coarse and distorted Micro-line text when
viewed under a magnifying glass.
The colour tone and font size and type of the forged cards were
also different from genuine S Passes.
The Police said landlords should verify their workers and tenants
particulars via The VERIFI and iCHECK services available at ICA's
website: http://www.ica.gov.sg
The Manpower Ministry has a system to allow the checking on the
validity of work passes at their website:
http://www.mom.gov.sg
ICA officers have also arrested a Malaysian man at the Woodlands
checkpoint when they found contraband cigarettes hidden in his car
speakers.
The total amount of taxes and duties involved is estimated to be
some $1,600 - and the man faces a fine up to 20 times that amount.
- CNA
Remember the last time I called for restrictions on Chinese
nationals after the real identity of Huang Shuying was made known?
Now, this is worse. Imagine an overstayer or an unqualified person
holding an S-Pass. The consequences could be disastrous. Shoddy
workmanship will become widespread.