37 workers with fake degrees dealt with by the law
Published on Sep 15, 2011
Little did they know that the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) introduced the electronic submission of supporting documents, such as academic certificates, so as to allow such documents to be verified earlier. -- ST PHOTO: TERENCE TAN
By Khushwant Singh
They were farmers and odd-job workers in China but nearly all of them produced a degree in hotel management when applying online for a work pass here in 2010.
But their deception came to an end when the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) received information that they were here on forged certificates and started investigations.
Now, all 37 bogus graduates have been weeded out.
On Sept 15, nine men and a woman were jailed a month each by a district court for furnishing a forged certificate in their applications for an work pass to work as cleaning supervisors for TY Enterprise.
These included Wang Jianyong, 31, and Zhang Xianying, 38, who had filed their applications in Oct 2009 and Jan 2010 respectively.
Earlier this week, 17 men and a woman were sentenced to similar jail terms for the same offence.
Another nine had been repatriated after receiving warning letters for submitting false information to MOM.
Read the full story in Thurday's edition of The Straits Times.