SINGAPORE: After trying twice and failing to get a degree from the National University of Singapore (NUS), a man decided to pose as an NUS graduate anyway in a job application for a teaching position.
China national Xie Xin, 30, was found out and fined S$4,000 in court on Friday (Dec 11) for using a forged document. Investigations revealed that his potential employer might have hired him anyway if he had used his A-Level certificate.
AdvertisementAdvertisementThe court heard that Xie, who is also a Singapore permanent resident, was admitted as an NUS student in August 2011, but withdrew from his studies in April 2016 without completing his degree requirements.
He successfully appealed to be reinstated as a student at NUS in January 2017 but was academically dismissed in June 2017 for failing to meet examination regulations.
Xie began working as a full-time Mathematics and English teacher for Kewo Education in August 2017 and befriended a superior who later told him of a part-time teaching position at Ascensia International School (AIS).
Xie applied for the job in person on Nov 14, 2018, and went for an interview. The next day, he was to submit a degree certificate in support of his application.
AdvertisementAdvertisementIn mid-2016, Xie had forged an NUS degree certificate using Photoshop to insert his name on the document which indicated: "Bachelor of Engineering (Computer Engineering) with Honours (Merit)".
He submitted this forged document to AIS, intending to improve his prospects of employment, and accepted a one-year contract with AIS.
A human resources executive at AIS was assigned to process Xie's application. When she asked Xie to sign a document called "Lecturer Declaration Form and Verification of Certificate Authenticity", he hesitated and asked if he could use his A-Level certificate instead of the NUS one.
A few days later, Xie submitted a statement to AIS saying that he had not completed his final year project at NUS and had not fully graduated yet, but would "finish my study when I am ready".
AdvertisementAIS later contacted NUS to verify the authenticity of Xie's degree certificate and was told that it did not match any of their graduates' records.
NUS subsequently lodged a police report, and Xie initially denied the charge before admitting to forging the certificate. He was dismissed from AIS in March 2019, and investigations showed that the company might have hired him at a lower salary scale if he had used his valid A-Level certificate.
The prosecutor asked for a S$4,000 fine, saying Xie had taken efforts to evade detection. Xie's lawyer said when his client created the forged NUS certificate, he wanted only to deceive his own parents.
For using as genuine a document he knew as forged, Xie could have been jailed for up to four years, fined, or both.
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