ICA reviewing PR status of Ian Fang, Lev Panfilov following convictions for sexual offences, Entertainment News
The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) is reviewing the permanent resident (PR) statuses of actors Ian Fang and Lev Panfilov following their convictions for sexual offences.
Responding to queries from AsiaOne, an ICA spokesperson said on Thursday (May 22) that Singapore PRs who have been convicted of an offence will have their PR status reviewed.
They further added that as the review for Ian and Lev is ongoing, no further details can be shared at this juncture.
Former Mediacorp actor Ian was sentenced to 40 months' imprisonment after pleading guilty on May 19 to three charges of sexual penetration of a girl under 16.
Three similar charges were taken into consideration for sentencing, along with one count of obstructing justice and one count of stalking.
The 35-year-old, who was born in Shanghai, first met the victim at an entertainment event in May 2024, when she was 15 years old. The duo subsequently engaged in sexual activities.
A gag order was previously imposed on both the victim and Ian to protect the girl, but it was lifted for the latter on May 19 after an application by her and her family.
He requested to delay serving his prison sentence in order to settle his personal and work matters and was released on $30,000 bail. He is expected to begin his sentence on June 16, 2025.
Lev, a TikToker and former scriptwriter-actor with local YouTube comedy channel Wah!Banana, was convicted on May 19 for raping a woman he met through the dating app Tinder.
Originally from Russia, he was sentenced to 11 years and six months' imprisonment, along with 12 strokes of the cane.
The assault occurred on Jan 12, 2021, after Panfilov brought the 30-year-old woman to the flat he shared with housemates, under the pretext of working on her script.
His case drew public attention and sparked controversy after the then vice-president of the Law Society of Singapore, Chia Boon Teck, made an inappropriate remark about the rape survivor in March.
Chia faced criticism from both the public and members of the legal community and resigned from his position.
Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam expressed his disapproval of Chia's remarks in a Facebook post at the time, stating: "Shaming and blaming victims steps over the line. Misogyny should have no place in our society."
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xingying.koh@asiaone.com
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