Singapore man jailed a year and fined for using forged documents to get Indonesian passport

Teo Boon Tiak (left) at the Batam District Court on June 23, 2016. PHOTO: F. PANGESTU

JAKARTA - A Singaporean man has been sentenced to a year in jail and fined 10 million rupiah (S$1,036) in Batam for using forged documents to get an Indonesian passport.

Presiding judge Endi Putra Nurindra told the Batam District Court on Thursday (July 14) that Teo Boon Tiak, 69, had used fake documents such as birth certificate and identity card to obtain the Indonesian passport.

Judge Endi said Teo's sentence was lighter than the 18 months prosecutors had sought as he was old, had confessed to his crime and had no previous conviction.

Under Indonesia's immigration laws, Teo could be jailed for up to five years and fined up to 500 million rupiah (S$50,500) for the offence.

Immigration officers had detained Teo on Feb 18 as he was boarding a ferry from the island's port of Sekupang bound for Singapore.

He had used a fake Indonesian passport issued in Batam in 2012, bearing his photograph and stating his name as Tommy and his home town as Medan in Sumatra, the court previously heard.

Immigration officers became suspicious after Teo excused himself to go to the toilet several times during questioning. They checked the toilet and found his Singapore identity card in the rubbish bin.

The case is the second this year involving Singaporeans using forged passports. Damar Bahadur Chettri, alias Sam Chettri, 55, escaped from a Batam detention centre in January after being arrested for using a false Indonesian passport to enter Singapore.

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