Indian jailed for false S'pore identity card

Moorthy Pugalendhi, a 28-yr-old cleaner also pleaded guilty to charges of possessing and using someone else's identity card.

An Indian national who purchased a Singapore identity card to get a passport has been jailed for 13 months.

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Moorthy Pugalendhi pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining a passport and illegal entry.

The 28-year-old cleaner also pleaded guilty to two other charges of possessing and using someone else's identity card.

The court heard on Tuesday that Pugalendhi purchased the card for 500 Singapore dollars ($312) from an unknown man in April 2000. A stall assistant had reportedly lost it.

He used the card to obtain a job as a cleaner and after more than five years, he applied for a Singapore passport in 2005.

His deception was discovered on March 15, when he was suspected of theft.

Police found no evidence linking Pugalendhi to the theft, but checks revealed that the identity card he was using did not belong to him.

Apart from the prison sentence, the court ordered for him to receive three strokes of the cane.