Woman jailed 7 weeks for providing fake diploma, transcript for Singapore PR applications for herself and daughter

SINGAPORE — A woman from the Philippines was jailed seven weeks, after she produced a fake diploma and transcript from a university in her home country when applying to be a permanent resident (PR) here.

The 38-year-old’s plans were foiled when the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) conducted internal investigations, the authority said in a media statement on Tuesday (Jan 14).

De Luna Noriza Dancel was sentenced on Tuesday for providing false statements to the ICA on the PR applications.

HOW THE CASE CAME TO LIGHT

In its statement, ICA said that its officers had first arrested De Luna on Oct 25, 2017 for making the false statements in applications for herself and her daughter, Tayde Deevy Rick De Luna, in 2008 and 2009 respectively. The daughter’s age was not stated in the press release.

Checks by ICA with the Centro Escolar University in Manila — which De Luna claimed to have attended and obtained her qualifications from there — revealed that she had not been enrolled at the institution.

“The diploma and transcript which De Luna had submitted for the applications did not originate from their office,” ICA said.

“ICA takes a very serious view of persons who provide false information or conceal material facts during their applications for any Singapore immigration facility." 

It reiterated that any person who has made a false statement in immigration applications will be dealt with firmly in accordance with the law.

This may include having their immigration facilities deprived or revoked.

“For those who have been convicted of an offence, the statuses of their family members will also be reviewed by the ICA,” the authority said.

In July last year, Pakistan-born Abdul Sattar Khan, 53, was jailed two weeks for lying in his application for Singapore citizenship. He had provided false information and forged documents on his educational background. 

Khan had represented Singapore in polo games and had previously been described as the "highest-ranked Singapore polo player".