Three Sri Lankans in Singapore sent to jail for forged Malaysia visas

Three Sri Lankan men were convicted and sentenced in Singapore to eight months’ jail on 20 July for possessing forged Malaysia visas in their passports.

They were arrested by Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers on 27 June, after anomalies were detected in their visas during checks at Woodlands Checkpoint, the Straits Times reported. Nalliah Selvamany Rohan, 26, Kanthanadan Jasitharan, 23, and Roopan Diasrepinsan, 20, were looking for employment outside of Sri Lanka.

The first two approached a Sri Lankan agent, Rajanikanth, to make arrangements for a trip to Malaysia for Rs. 305,000 (S$2,600) each. The third approached another agent to make the same trip for Rs. 500,000.

Jasitharan arrived in Singapore on 18 June, and the forged Malaysian visas were attached to their passports. Roopan arrived on 26 June and did the same.

On June 27, Rajanikanth arranged for a Malaysian taxi to take the three men to Malaysia at about 8 pm. ICA officers nabbed the trio at about 9.20 pm. Rajanikanth had left Singapore before investigations started, and the Malaysian taxi driver was not found to be involved in the scam.

Under the Passports Act Section 47(6), a person convicted of knowingly possessing false foreign travel documents may be fined up to $10,000 or to imprisonment not exceeding 10 years, or to both.