Fake airline tickets land 12 Pinoys in Singapore jail

Twelve Filipinos have been jailed in Singapore for alleged deception of immigration officials when they presented fake return airline tickets, an embassy report said yesterday.

In a report to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Philippine Embassy in Singapore said the Singaporean government has intensified its crackdown on foreigners who present fake or dummy return airline tickets to its immigration authorities.

The embassy said that possession of a roundtrip ticket is a requirement for Filipino tourists who travel abroad, and this is scrutinized at the port of exit in the Philippines and port of entry of the destination country.

“Deception of immigration officials and presenting fake e-tickets is illegal and a serious offense in Singapore, as well as in the Philippines. Offenders face a minimum two-year ban on entering Singapore,” said Philippine Ambassador to Singapore Belen Anota.

In the last two months, Anota said 15 Filipinos drew jail terms ranging from three to 10 months each. These include job seekers, pub girls who tried to extend their stay in Singapore, and a Filipino information technology professional who manufactures fake electronic tickets for Filipinos.

Anota warned Filipinos not to use fraudulent tickets issued by travel agencies in the Philippines, and procure instead open-dated return tickets if unsure of a return date.

In a recent meeting with the leaders of the Filipino expatriate community in Singapore, Anota asked for support to inform travelers to the city-state to ensure that they have valid roundtrip tickets.

She also warned travel agencies that produce fake airline tickets that they risk facing charges.

To curb the rampant use of fake return tickets, the embassy has proposed measures to be utilized in the Philippines.

Among these are the strict imposition of disciplinary measures against travel agencies that issue fake electronic tickets as they are a party to deceiving the ticket holders, the airline’s check-in personnel, and immigration officials at the airport; an information campaign at the local government level and among travel agencies in the Philippines on the dangers and disadvantages of using dummy tickets targeting job seekers who masquerade as tourists; the aggressive implementation of the laws against illegal recruiters; and the conduct of a more intensive information campaign in the localities where trafficking victims are recruited.

The embassy emphasized the link between human trafficking and rampant use of dummy tickets by Filipino victims of human trafficking in Singapore.

To entice prospective victims, human traffickers and illegal recruiters usually provide “free” roundtrip tickets (usually in the form of e-tickets), with only one way as valid, and charge them a minimal fee. To lower costs, human traffickers connive with travel agencies to issue dummy return tickets, usually from an airline different from the outbound portion, to comply with the Philippines’ immigration requirement of a roundtrip ticket for tourists.

“The modus operandi lowers the cost of the outbound flight. Traffickers then extract profits from their victims by compelling them to repay their spurious debts ranging from $1,200 to $6,000,” Anota added.   – With AFP