TSI imposes heavier penalty for document forgery

The Court of Second Instance (TSI) has ruled in favor of an appeal from the public prosecution regarding a case involving forged documents and false declarations to grant more quotas for non-resident workers (TNRs), the office of the president of the Court of Final Appeal has stated.

The case relates to the owner of a beauty salon, tried for having made use of false declarations and forged documentation to have more quotas granted to hire TNRs to work for his company.

In the First Instance, the beauty salon owner was sentenced to the payment of a fine in the equivalent of 90 days of imprisonment, that is, MOP36,000 for being judged responsible for three counts of the crime of document forgery.

Analyzing the appeal from the public prosecution, the judges of TSI gave credence to their arguments, noting that the sentence was too lenient for a case of this severity.

The TSI then changed the sentence to a penalty of six months of imprisonment for each count of the crime of document forgery, which cumulatively resulted in one year and three months’ imprisonment.

Nonetheless, the same court considered that this penalty should be suspended from enforcement for a period of two years under the condition of the payment of the fine of MOP36,000 as a contribution to the government in view of the damage caused.

It was proven in both trials that, through the fraud, the salon owner was able to obtain at least one more quota than he was entitled to for the period 2012 to 2018.