CCCS Secures Court Orders Against Immigration Consultancy Businesses for Misleading Practices

The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (“CCCS”) has obtained court orders against several immigration consultancy businesses. At the centre of the case is Cheng Yong Teck (“Cheng”), the mastermind behind the unfair trade practices carried on by Paul Immigrations, VED Immigrations and SAVA Immigrations. The unfair trade practices involved misleading consumers on the urgent need to apply for Singapore Permanent Residency (“PR”) and to guarantee success of applications made through these businesses.

Investigations by CCCS first commenced against Paul Immigrations after the Consumers Association of Singapore (“CASE”) received multiple consumer complaints in relation to its sales tactics. The focus of the investigations shifted to VED Immigrations, after CCCS found that Cheng had ceased Paul Immigrations’ operations but resumed similar practices through VED Immigrations. Cheng was subsequently found to be operating through a third business, SAVA Immigrations.

The investigation revealed that Cheng was responsible for directing the operations of these businesses and was deliberate in implementing the misleading practices. When Paul Immigrations was investigated by CCCS, Cheng continued to operate through other businesses to evade detection. Cheng personally wrote scripts on what staff members needed to do and say to prospective customers, monitored their sales tactics through closed-circuit television footage and implemented a punishment-and-reward system to ensure that his staff members followed his methods.  

The District Court has ordered Cheng and the relevant businesses to:

• Cease the unfair trade practices;

• Publish details of the court orders on online platforms used for marketing their services and in major newspapers in Singapore;

• Inform all potential customers about the court orders before contracting with them; and

• Notify CCCS about any change to business structures, and to Cheng’s employment, control or ownership of his businesses.

This case marks CCCS's first court action against a person who used new business entities to evade detection of unfair trade practices.

Please refer to the media release for details.