Man who paid S$1 million to company in hope of getting Singapore PR sentenced to jail for lying to MOM

SINGAPORE: Hoping to obtain Singapore permanent residency so he could work in the country and his children could live here, a man paid S$1 million to a company after being asked to do so as an “investment”.

He then submitted false information to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to get an Employment Pass.

Yu Huajie, a 37-year-old China national, was given seven weeks’ jail on Wednesday (Oct 26). He pleaded guilty to two charges of making false statements in his declaration for an Employment Pass. Another two charges were taken into consideration.

The court heard that Yu wanted to settle down and legalise his stay in Singapore in 2018. He approached a man in China known only as “Bing Bing” for help.

Bing Bing told Yu that Yu could acquire an Employment Pass in Singapore by investing S$1 million into a company in Singapore.

Yu agreed as he hoped that the pass would subsequently help him to achieve permanent residency in Singapore, enabling him to establish companies in the country and allowing his children to live and study in Singapore.

Yu transferred S$1 million to Bing Bing in end-2018. According to the agreement, Yu was to apply for an Employment Pass under the company Gashubin Engineering.

Gashubin was purportedly in the business of water and gas pipeline and sewer construction.

On paper, he would be paid S$10,000 per month as a salary, on top of any future potential investment returns.

The S$1 million he paid was to go to Gashubin, the court heard. However, in reality, Yu would not do any work for the firm.

Yu was told that a degree certificate issued by an American university would have to be processed and submitted as part of his Employment Pass application. He paid US$10,000 for the fake certificate, despite never studying at the university.

In December 2018, Yu’s application for an Employment Pass under Gashubin was submitted to the Controller of Work Passes at MOM.

In the application, he was purportedly a regional marketing manager under Gashubin, with a bachelor’s degree in business management from The Chubb Institute (Westbury).

He made two false statements to MOM in February 2019, reaffirming details of the application. Based on the false information given, Yu’s Employment Pass was approved.

The ruse was uncovered after MOM received information on the possible contravention of the law in March 2021.

Investigations revealed that the director of Gashubin was approached by the director of a company called Hai Sin International, which “specialised” in helping foreigners obtain PR status in Singapore.

Hai Sin was purportedly in the business of assisting its clients to buy over, invest in or start businesses in Singapore. Hai Sin would embark on advertising programs in China to persuade foreigners to invest in Singapore.

Hai Sin’s director, Wang Jue, approached Gashubin’s director in mid-2018 with a proposal. She said she could secure foreign investors for Gashubin if Gashubin applied for Employment Passes for the investors to stay in Singapore, according to court documents.

They agreed that the foreign investors would invest financially in Gashubin and would not be required to perform any work for Gashubin in Singapore, despite Gashubin being their official employer.

Yu was allowed to defer his sentence to November.

According to court documents, Yu is currently not a Singapore permanent resident.