Indian MBA fined for lying in Singapore

Singapore, Feb 17: An MBA from Hyderabad-based Osmania University's 1989 batch was yesterday fined 6,000 Singapore dollars on two of the five charges he faced for lying in his application for Employment Pass (EP) here.

In his EP application, Mahesh Narayan misrepresented himself to be possessing an MBA degree from Syracuse University of the United States.

Currently the managing director of business consultancy Davka, Mahesh faced up to five years in jail and a possible 20,000 dollar fine, for having lied in the application filed in Singapore's Ministry of Manpower to work in that country, according to a report by Straits Times today.

But he was let off with only a fine after his lawyer, Singapore's Senior Counsel Philip Jeyaretnam, argued his case in the district court. ''He (Mahesh) had not submitted any false documents supporting his degree from the American university, and it did not make much difference to his employers, which included MTV Asia,'' he said.

The ministry had not insisted on seeing his educational certificates, Mr Jeyaretnam added.

The counsel supported Mahesh's case by highlighting his achievements as a professional in Singapore, having done good work including a deal worth 32 million dollars for selling artefacts, found off the coast of Indonesia and dating back 1,700 years to the Tang Dynasty.

After hearing the arguments, District Judge Toh Yung Cheong fined Mahesh 3,000 Singapore dollars each for the two charges while also considering three other charges.

In January 2005, a Singapore court had jailed a South Korean sales manager Kang Seong Yong for two months for lying that he had a university degree, which was a key to get him a job there.

Sixty-eight people were convicted in 2002 and 2003 each for falsely declaring their educational qualifications to the Singapore authority when taking up jobs in the city state, according to the Singapore daily.

UNI