Low Eng Kheng used forged Malaysian passports on 876 occasions between 2006 and 2011 to cross Singapore’s checkpoints, The Straits Times reported.

He pleaded guilty to five charges under Singapore’s Immigration Act at the district court.

The court heard that Low paid RM45,000 to an unknown individual for a fake Malaysian passport to visit his ailing mother in 2006. The passport featured his photograph but the personal details of one “Chong Poh Yin”.

Over the years, he acquired three more forged Malaysian passports bearing the same alias at RM10,000 each, using them frequently to travel in and out of Singapore as a driver ferrying passengers.

He also submitted false statements on 59 occasions between March and May 2011, providing fake names, birth dates and places of birth on disembarkation forms.

Low was finally arrested in August 2024, following an investigation launched by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) in September 2023.

Deputy superintendent Ganeshvaran Dhanasekaran, a senior prosecution officer from ICA, said Low’s actions were deliberate and sustained, aimed at avoiding his NS obligations and escaping detection.

Defence lawyer Thomas Tham argued that Low did not enter Singapore to commit crimes but merely to work as a driver to support his family.

He said the high number of passport uses was due to the nature of Low’s job.