22-year-old student arrested for suspected forgery of medical certificates
The Straits Times
Friday, May 24, 2013
In a statement, the police said the suspect is believed to have sold forged medical certificates to other students, who in turn submitted them to their respective schools to skip classes.
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Below is the police statement in full:
ONLINE SELLER OF FORGED MEDICAL CERTIFICATES ARRESTED
Police have arrested a 22-year-old female student who is involved in several cases of Forgery of Medical Certificates.
It is believe the suspect had sold forged Medical Certificates to other students, who in turn submitted them to their respective schools to skip classes. The students had contacted the suspect through social media and subsequently arranged to meet up with the suspect to purchase the forged Medical Certificates (MCs), which had the letterheads of legitimate clinics fraudulently printed on them. The forged MCs were detected when the teacher of the school in the east became suspicious and verified the students' medical records with the respective clinics, which then exposed the ruse. A police report was then lodged.
Through protracted investigations and extensive follow-up, officers from Ang Mo Kio Police Division managed to establish the identity of the suspect who sold the MCs to the students. On 22 May 2013 at about 10.30 pm, the suspect was arrested in the vicinity of Ang Mo Kio Avenue 9. A stack of forged MCs was also found at the suspect's house and seized as case exhibit. Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect had sold the forged MCs to at least 30 students between March 2013 and May 2013.
Investigations against the suspect as well as the students involved are on-going. The offence of Forgery for the Purpose of Cheating under Section 468 of the Penal Code Chapter 224, carries a maximum jail term of up to 10 years' imprisonment, and shall also be liable to fine.
Commander of Ang Mo Kio Police Division, Deputy Assistant Commissioner of Police (DAC) Keok Tong San, commended his officers for their good investigation which resulted in the arrest of the suspect and protected the integrity of the affected clinics. He also cautioned that forging Medical Certificates in order to skip school or work is tantamount to a criminal offence and the Police will not hesitate to take such persons to task.
