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A Singaporean man returning from Indonesia allegedly lied about his travel history in order to avoid serving his mandatory Stay-Home Notice (SHN) at dedicated facilities, serving it at his place of residence instead.

The 58-year-old will be charged in court on Friday (Mar. 19).

Claimed he had not travelled to any countries outside of list

According to a press release by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), Vijeyakumar S/O Z Joseph arrived at Changi Airport on Nov. 22, 2020 from Jakarta, Indonesia.

He allegedly declared in a physical declaration form, which was submitted to an ICA officer, that in the 14 days prior to arriving in Singapore, he had not travelled to any country or region outside of Fiji, Finland, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Turkey.

Travellers from Fiji, Finland, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Turkey can opt-out of serving their SHN at dedicated facilities, and serve it at their place of residence instead, if they meet the following criteria:

• The traveller has not travelled to other country or region other than the above specified list in the last consecutive 14 days prior to departure for Singapore.
• The traveller is occupying the place of residence alone, or only with household members with the same travel history, who are also serving SHN of the same duration and period.

Indonesia is not on the approved list of locations for opting-out of SHN at dedicated facilities.

Also lied about who he would occupying place of residence with

Vijeyakumar also allegedly declared on the form that he would be occupying his place of residence either alone or with household members with the same travel history as him and serving their SHN during the same duration.

He was subsequently served with an SHN from Nov. 22 to Dec. 6, 2020.

On Nov. 25, 2020, enforcement officers conducted checks at Vijeyakumar's place of residence and found him allegedly residing with two other household members who did not share the same travel history as him.

Firm enforcement action will be taken: ICA

For making false declarations to try to opt out of serving SHN at dedicated facilities, Vijeyakumar will be prosecuted for offences under the Infections Diseases Act.

People who fail to comply with SHN requirements — such as people who tamper with or remove the electronic monitoring device that all travellers serving their SHN outside of dedicated facilities are required to wear — can be prosecuted under the Infectious Diseases (Covid-19 – Stay Orders) Regulations 2020.

The penalty for doing so is imprisonment of up to six months, a fine of up to S$10,000, or both.

ICA said that the government would like to remind all members of the public to submit truthful and accurate information for all health, travel, and SHN-related declarations.

"Firm enforcement action will be taken against those found to have made false declarations," ICA stated.

Members of the public can report information about anyone who fails to comply with SHN requirements to ICA online or by calling 6812 5555.

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Top photo via Unsplash / Matt Seymour.