Businessman 'invested' S$360,000 hoping to become Singaporean, gets jail for lying in pass application
Zhang Qingqiao signed a form declaring he would work for the company for S$10,000 a month, but intended to do no such work.
File photo of the State Courts in Singapore. (Photo: CNA/Calvin Oh)
Lydia Lam
@LydiaLamCNA09 Oct 2023 02:29PM
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SINGAPORE: A foreign businessman made a false declaration to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) saying that he would be working for a local company, in order to get an employment pass.
In reality, he did not intend to work for the company at all. Instead, the pass was to legitimise his stay in Singapore with a view to eventually attain permanent residency and Singaporean citizenship in exchange for an "investment" of S$360,000 (US$263,000) in the company.
Zhang Qingqiao, a 37-year-old Chinese national, was sentenced to four weeks' jail on Monday (Oct 9) for one count of making a false declaration to the Controller of Work Passes.
He had contested the charge but was convicted at the close of trial.
The court heard that Zhang was a seasoned investor who began investing in 2012 when he was still in China.
His long-term objective was to migrate his entire family to Singapore and settle down here, eventually obtaining permanent residency and Singapore citizenship.
Around July 2019, Zhang got to know a woman named Wang Jue, or Jess, as he was looking to become a PR in Singapore.
According to Zhang's defence, Wang perpetuated a fraudulent investment scheme.
After meeting Wang, Zhang decided to "invest" S$360,000 in a company called MW Dynamics. This was after he rejected an investment plan of S$2 million, for which he could purportedly attain PR status within three years.
As part of the plan, he would become an employment pass holder of the company, where he would draw a monthly salary of S$10,000.
After three years, he would supposedly receive the S$360,000 back through his salary, and he did not need to perform any work or report to the company.
The objective of this "zero-returns" investment was to legitimise his stay in Singapore by obtaining an employment pass under MW Dynamics, even though he did not intend to work for the company, the judge noted.
As part of the plan, Zhang signed and submitted a declaration from for an employment pass to the Controller of work passes in September 2019.
In the form, he declared that he would be employed by MW Dynamics as a business development director for a monthly salary of S$10,000.
The application was approved.
It is unclear how the misdeeds were uncovered, but Zhang's sentencing comes after another Chinese national Yu Huajie was given seven weeks' jail for similar offences.
He had similarly dealt with Wang in applying for an employment pass.
At trial, Zhang's defence team pointed the finger at Wang, saying Zhang was a victim who had been misled by Wang.
The judge said he was "not persuaded by the defence's attempt to pin the blame entirely on (Wang)".
The prosecution sought four to six weeks' jail for Zhang, while defence lawyers Mr Sunil Sudheesan and Ms Joyce Khoo of Quahe Woo & Palmer asked for a fine.
JUDGE'S REMARKS
Principal District Judge Victor Yeo said the evidence showed that Zhang was entering into the investment to get an employment pass and that he knew all along he did not have to work for the company.Considering that he is a seasoned businessman able to seek advice from his lawyer about investments, his assertions that he did not read, write or speak English and trusted Wang with the employment pass application were "unconvincing", said Judge Yeo.
The deception spanned about 18 months and directly contravened MOM's framework for issuing such passes.
It also has a knock-on effect on immigration policy, said the judge.
The defence had argued that this case was different from typical cases under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, which typically involve false or forged qualifications or errant employers who circumvent the rules for monetary gain.
But Judge Yeo said MW Dynamics had received a large sum of money from Zhang, so it would not be entirely accurate for the defence to say that no economic benefit had been derived by the errant employer here.
Mr Sudheesan had also argued that Zhang could easily have obtained an employment pass for himself through his family office, the same way his wife had obtained hers.
However, Judge Yeo said he could not give much weight to this. Firstly, it was "pure speculation". Even if Zhang succeeded in other ways of obtaining PR status or citizenship, it did not detract from the fact that he had also chosen this path which involved a false declaration.
Judge Yeo also said he could not place much weight on the fact that Zhang might face deportation or an entry ban when his family is "very settled" in Singapore.
"I do not consider this to be a very relevant consideration," he said.
Zhang intends to appeal against his conviction and sentence.
According to the judge's grounds for convicting Zhang, Wang could potentially face criminal proceedings for helping Zhang with his employment pass application.
For making a false application in his declaration form for an employment pass, Zhang could have been jailed for up to two years, fined up to S$20,000, or both.
