Jail for man who tried to use roommate’s passport to leave S’pore after arrest for rental scam

SINGAPORE – After being arrested for cheating multiple victims in a rental scam, Patel Dhavalkumar Chandubhai, who was out on bail, attempted to leave Singapore by using his roommate’s passport.

The 24-year-old Indian national was sentenced to 14 months and 14 weeks’ jail on Thursday after pleading guilty to five charges, including one under the Passports Act. The other charges were related to the rental scam.

Patel entered into an agreement with four rental scam victims, who had come to Singapore to study, to each rent a room in the unit he was residing in. Court documents did not state how many rooms there were in the unit or what kind of unit it was.

In May 2022, Patel demanded a rental sum of $500 from each victim, and asked for an additional $200 from one of the victims for groceries to be shared among the tenants of the unit.

After receiving the monies, however, Patel left the unit on the pretext that he was travelling to Malaysia for a short trip and became uncontactable.

The landlord eventually informed the victims that Patel had not paid him their monthly rent and that he had been giving excuses to delay the payment. Subsequently, the landlord demanded that they leave the unit.

The victims lodged police reports against Patel. He was arrested on May 29 at Changi Airport while attempting to leave Singapore for India.

He surrendered his passport and was released on bail on June 3, knowing that he was not to travel out of Singapore’s jurisdiction without the leave of the court.

In March 2023, when Patel’s roommate informed him that he wished to purchase a new mobile phone, Patel asked him to bring along his passport.

His roommate did so and gave his passport to Patel, who kept it, even though they did not manage to buy a mobile phone that day.

On March 20, Patel used his roommate’s passport at an automated passport counter at Tuas Checkpoint in an attempt to leave the country.

But his facial, iris and fingerprint biometrics did not match that of the actual passport holder, and Patel was referred to an immigration officer. 

When the officer asked him for his particulars, Patel was able to recite his roommate’s details from memory. When questioned further, he provided a digital copy of his roommate’s student pass.

Immigration officers later found a deleted photo of Patel’s own passport in his mobile phone, and he was arrested.

In his submissions, Deputy Public Prosecutor Louis Ngia said Patel is a serial offender who has demonstrated a persistent disregard for the law.

“The planning and premeditation in the present case goes beyond the pale. (Patel) had laced his scheme with deception. He memorised (his roommate’s) passport details... and produced a copy of (his) student pass. The irresistible inference is that of his careful and detailed preparation in committing the offence,” said the DPP.

After District Judge Kenneth Chin meted out the sentence, Patel said through a translator: “The sentence is too long. I would like to ask my lawyer what he can do about it.”

After the judge explained that the sentence had already been passed, Patel continued to ask several times if he “really had to accept it”.

Addressing Patel’s defence lawyer A. Revi Shanker, the judge said: “I will leave it to you to advise him.”

Those who use a foreign travel document that was not issued to them in connection with travel or identification may be jailed for up to 10 years, fined up to $10,000, or both.