SINGAPORE - A 47-year-old man appeared in a district court on Wednesday (May 13) after he allegedly lied about his travel history at the Supreme Court in order to attend a trial there, amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

Dominican citizen Kiri Manish Pravinchandra was charged with two counts of giving false information to a public servant.

The Singapore Police Force and the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said in a joint statement on Tuesday that as part of Covid-19 precautionary measures, all Supreme Court visitors have to declare their travel histories for the past 14 days.

Kiri had arrived in Singapore from the United States on March 20.

Despite this, he is said to have turned up at the Supreme Court on March 31 and April 1, falsely declaring on both occasions that he had not gone abroad for the past 14 days.

As a result, he was allowed to enter the building.

In their statement, the police and ICA added: "The authorities would like to remind members of the public to take all health and travel declarations seriously and to submit truthful and accurate information. Action will be taken against those found to have made false declarations."

For each count of giving false information to a public servant, an offender can be jailed for up to two years and fined.

The authorities also said that if Kiri were convicted in court, he would be deported after serving his sentence and barred from re-entering Singapore.

Kiri will be back in court on June 24.