4 months’ jail for man who got fake birth certificates for twin boys born overseas
A Singaporean businessman obtained fake birth certificates for his child and gave the boy’s certificate to an officer at the Singapore Consulate-General in India, who granted the boy a document of identity in lieu of a passport.
SINGAPORE — A roller-coaster case involving surrogacy, a paternity mix-up and fake birth certificates has culminated in a 45-year-old Singaporean businessman being sentenced to four months behind bars on Friday (Oct 25).
Back in February, he pleaded guilty to procuring fake birth certificates for his twin baby boys, who had been born through a surrogate mother in India in 2014.
In May, the man’s lawyer R Thrumurgan then said in mitigation that his client was only in court because he had faced a “unique situation”.
The man and his wife had wanted children but were unable to conceive. The couple and the boys cannot be named to protect the children’s identities.
They went to Mumbai in 2013 for in-vitro fertilisation, accompanied by another couple — the man’s friend Sam Yap and Mr Yap’s wife — who also could not have a child naturally.
More than a year after the twins’ birth, the man learned that they were not biologically his, because they had been conceived through a mix of his and Mr Yap’s sperm. Still, the man continued caring for them.
One of the twins then developed a hernia at his groin, which was life-threatening and required immediate surgery.
Not confident with the medical facilities in India, the man wanted to take the boy to Singapore for treatment, but this required travel documents.
He then obtained fake birth certificates for them, and gave the sick boy’s certificate to an officer at the Singapore Consulate-General in India, who granted the boy a document of identity in lieu of a passport. The boy was also registered as a Singapore citizen that day on Sept 5, 2014.
The boy then entered Singapore two days later using the document of identity.
The following month, the man’s wife filed a police report stating that her husband had received fake documentation for the boys and submitted it to the Singapore authorities in India.
Court documents did not state why she did so.
“The man has had good character all his life… he took one wrong step to protect what was most dear to him,” Mr Thrumurgan said during mitigation.
“He had intended to go by all due process, but the urgent medical condition changed how he acted… and he committed the offences, all for the purposes of bringing the kids back (to Singapore).”
However, in sentencing the man on Friday, District Judge Kessler Soh said that his offences were serious and warranted a deterrent sentence. The man will begin serving his jail time on Nov 4.
