Eight being probed for making false SHN declarations

Eight travellers who arrived here this month are being investigated for making false stay-home notice declarations, with four non-Singaporeans among them at risk of losing their permanent residency or long-term passes if found guilty of the offence.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and police said yesterday that four Singaporeans, two permanent residents and two long-term pass holders who arrived from South Korea and Thailand had made the false declarations to avoid serving their stay-home notices at dedicated facilities.

This is the first time such an offence has been reported.

Prior to their arrival here between Nov 5 and Nov 12, the eight had applied to serve the notices at their place of residence. In their applications, they had declared they would be occupying their place of residence alone, or only with household members with the same travel history and serving stay-home notices of the same duration.

However, between Nov 6 and 13, enforcement officers conducted checks at their residences and found them with household members who were not serving stay-home notices. The eight travellers were then taken to dedicated stay-home notice facilities.

The two PRs may have their statuses revoked or re-entry permits cancelled or shortened, while the two long-term pass holders may have their passes cancelled or shortened, the two agencies said in a statement.

They added that as a precautionary measure "to safeguard public health", household members who were with the eight, but were not on stay-home notices, have been issued the notices as well.

ICA has required all travellers serving stay-home notices outside of dedicated facilities to wear an electronic monitoring device throughout their notice period since Aug 11, which has allowed more travellers to serve their notices at their place of residence, based on a risk-based approach adopted by the authorities.

ICA and the police warned the public to take all declarations related to health, travel and stay-home notices seriously, adding that "firm enforcement action will be taken against those found to have made false declarations".

Offenders have been jailed and fined for offences such as breaching stay-home notices or quarantine orders, including a man who was sentenced to six weeks in jail after he breached a stay-home notice and went out to eat bak kut teh on March 23.