S'porean man, 58, who fled by boat in 2002, entered & left S'pore illegally after, gets over 14 months' jail

A 58-year-old Singaporean man, who entered and left Singapore illegally after absconding in 2002, was sentenced on Aug. 11, 2026 to 14 months and three weeks' jail.

An Aug. 11 joint news release by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) stated that Tan Khi Wie was convicted of six charges under the Immigration Act and Penal Code.

Charges

They included two counts of failure to present valid passport punishable, one count of making false statement in arrival disembarkation card, one count of knowingly producing false passport, one count of illegal departure, and one count of failure to attend court.

The release noted that 16 other charges under the Immigration Act were taken into consideration for the purposes of sentencing.

Absconded, arrested

On Aug. 6, 2002, Tan had previously been convicted and sentenced to 18 months' jail for one count of cheating.

He had cheated the then-Singapore Productivity and Standards Board into disbursing a grant of S$195,800 under the Local Enterprise Technical Assistance Scheme.

In the same month, he filed a notice of appeal against his conviction and sentence.

According to the release, Tan absconded from Singapore to avoid serving his sentence.

He subsequently failed to show up at a court mention on Jan. 21, 2003, for the appeal.

On Feb. 20, 2003, a warrant of arrest was issued against him.

Entered, departed country illegally

Investigations by ICA revealed that Tan had departed Singapore illegally via a fishing boat sometime between August 2002 and January 2003.

He first travelled to Pasir Gudang in Johor, Malaysia, the release stated.

Tan then continued to Thailand, and eventually Jakarta, Indonesia, where he resided.

Between 2011 and 2016, he had used Indonesian passports under the false identity of "Ken Srona" to enter and depart Singapore on multiple occasions.

In his disembarkation forms, Tan also falsely declared that he had never used a passport under a different name to enter Singapore.

On Mar. 7, 2026, Tan attempted to clear immigration at Changi Airport using an Indonesian passport under the false identity of "Ken Srona".

As he was unable to complete immigration clearance at the automated lanes, ICA officers conducted further checks that established his actual identity and revealed that he was wanted by the police.

Tan was then detained and handed over to the police.

Strengthened immigration clearance processes

The release stated that ICA has strengthened its immigration clearance processes and systems by leveraging biometrics and data analytics.

It has put in place multi-modal biometric systems at the checkpoints since July 2020 to better detect persons using multiple or assumed identities.

All automated lanes at Singapore's land, sea and air checkpoints are equipped with iris and facial scanners.

The concurrent use of these biometric identifiers provides a highly accurate means of authenticating travellers' identities, according to the release.