Woman, 68, gets six months’ jail for illegal stay in Singapore since 2007
Handcuffed woman standing in a courtroom
SINGAPORE: A woman who had been illegally staying in Singapore for over 19 years has finally surrendered to the authorities together with her husband, as they could not continue living to make ends meet in the country. With this, she has been sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, and a fine of $2,000.
Case details revealed that the 68-year-old woman pleaded guilty to one charge of violating immigration laws by continuously staying in Singapore after her special pass had expired. Furthermore, she was also charged for failing to comply with special permit conditions and failing to report for deportation as required will still be considered by the judge.
Further investigations stated that the woman was then sentenced to four weeks’ imprisonment in May 2007 for illegal entry into the country, and was fined $1,500 instead of caning. When she served her sentence back then, she was required to remain in Singapore because the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority needed her to testify for the prosecution.
The special pass for her stay was only until mid-July 2007. However, after this pass expired, the woman decided to stay in Singapore to avoid her debts in China.
She stayed illegally in the country for 19 years, two months, and 23 days, and she survived to do so by doing several jobs. It wasn’t until October 6th this year that she could no longer support herself and surrendered to the authorities.
Court records also revealed that the woman’s husband also stayed illegally in Singapore for more than 18 years and 10 months, and is expected to plead guilty next week.
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If the woman is unable to pay the fine of $2,000, she will need to serve an additional 12 days in jail.
In other news, a man with dementia was targeted by scammers twice within a year.
Investigations stated that the man received two suspicious calls involving life insurance policies within a year. As shared by his 70-year-old wife, her husband received a call asking him to pay insurance premiums at the beginning of the year.
Read more about the news story here.