SINGAPORE: A tycoon once ranked by Forbes as being among the richest men in China will be stripped of his Singapore citizenship, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in a statement on Monday (Mar 5).
Mick Davies, formerly known as Lan Shili, had obtained his Singapore citizenship through fraudulent means, said MHA, noting that the 58-year-old businessman had flouted immigration laws locally and abroad.
"After due consideration that Davies’ Singapore Citizenship had been obtained by fraudulent means, false representation and concealment of material facts, and that he had flouted immigration laws locally and abroad, the Minister for Home Affairs intends to deprive him of his Singapore Citizenship, as it is not conducive to the public good for him to remain a Singapore citizen," said MHA.
Davies, who was worth US$380 million in 2008, was convicted in 2016 of a single charge under the Passports Act for using a forged Hong Kong passport to return to Singapore, where he lives.
He had travelled to China on a business trip in February 2016, and was arrested there for alleged fraud. Davies was released on bail in April that same year, and his Singapore passport was impounded.
He stayed in China for the next three months, but eventually decided to return to Singapore through Vietnam.
AdvertisementAdvertisementOn Jul 9, 2017 he entered Vietnam illegally by boat. He sought help at the Singapore Embassy in Hanoi to get a replacement travel document but was told he would have to explain how he had entered Vietnam without a travel document.
Unwilling to report to Vietnamese authorities, Davies decided to leave Vietnam the way he had arrived – illegally. He paid 55,000 yuan (S$11,460) for a Hong Kong passport bearing the particulars of a person named Fu Ching, and a plane ticket to Singapore on Jul 12, 2017.
Davies entered Singapore using the fake passport, but was arrested two weeks later at the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority building. He was sentenced to five months' jail for using a fake passport to enter Singapore.
During investigations into his immigration offences, it was found that Davies had provided forged educational certificates to support his Singapore Citizenship application in 2002, said MHA.
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