Mr Ang made 30 trips abroad without obtaining permission from the OA. -- ST FILE PHOTO
WHEN a retiree flew to Vietnam on his son's passport in June last year, the immigration authorities came under fire.
Onus on bankrupts
THE law puts the onus on bankrupts to declare when they want to go abroad. The green light to go is 'generally granted' for employment reasons, as this enables them to earn income to pay their creditors. Permission is also granted on compassionate grounds. About 90 per cent of bankrupts who apply for travel get the go-ahead. About 43,000 applications, including repeat ones, were made each year in the last two years.
Bankrupts caught travelling on the sly
HERE are the number of prosecutions, fines and warnings handed out by year.
But it has since come to light that his son - an undischarged bankrupt barred from unauthorised travel - had used that same passport in the year before the incident to make 30 trips abroad without official approval.
Mr Vincent Ang, 39, has pleaded guilty and since served a four-week jail term for flouting the law governing travel by bankrupts.
Undischarged bankrupts are supposed to seek clearance from the Official Assignee (OA) ahead of any trip out of the country.
An OA is a court officer who administers the affairs of such individuals, including ensuring that they do not stash away income or assets and keeping track of their movements for their creditors' benefit.
Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits times.
