PUBLISHED ONAugust 11, 2026 4:45 AMBYSean LerA 58-year-old Singaporean man was on Tuesday (Aug 11) sentenced to 14 months' and three weeks' imprisonment after he was convicted for entering and leaving Singapore illegally between 2011 and 2016, and for abscondment.
Tan Khi Wie was convicted in August 2002 and sentenced to 18 months' jail for cheating the then-Singapore Productivity and Standards Board into disbursing a grant of $195,800 under the Local Enterprise Technical Assistance Scheme.
He then filed a notice of appeal against his conviction and sentence the same month, but absconded from Singapore to avoid serving his sentence.
A Warrant of Arrest was issued against Tan on February 20, 2003, after he failed to show up at a court mention in January that year.
According to ICA, Tan left Singapore illegally for Pasir Gudang in Johor via a fishing boat sometime between August 2002 and January 2003.
He then continued on to Thailand, and eventually settled in Jakarta, Indonesia, where he resided thereafter.
Between 2011 and 2016, Tan purportedly used Indonesian passports under the fake identity of "Ken Srona" to enter and leave Singapore on multiple occasions.
He had also falsely declared in his disembarkation forms that he had never used a passport under a different name to enter Singapore.
Tan's deception came to an end on March 7 this year when he attempted to clear immigration at Changi Airport using an Indonesian passport under the fake identity.
His bluff was called when he was unable to complete immigration at the automated lanes, which utilises biometrics and data analytics to detect persons using multiple or fake identities.
ICA officers later established Tan's real identity and handed him over to the police after noting that he was wanted by them.
Alongside the six Immigration and Penal Code-related charges faced by Tan, 16 other charges under the Immigration Act were also taken into consideration for the purposes of sentencing.
ICA also warned travellers that they will not hesitate to take firm action against those who attempt to enter or depart Singapore using an impersonated identity or an identity different from that used during their previous trips to Singapore in order to circumvent its checks.
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