Shanghai airport inspection police said on Sunday it had uncovered a plan by three Chinese men and one Singaporean to illegally enter the United States under the pretext of a business trip.

The travel plans were organized by a Singaporean man who claimed he was the chief executive officer of a company. He said he "planned to organize three of his most competent employees to learn advanced science and technology in a developed country".

The four planned to depart from Shanghai International Airport in Pudong on Saturday and travel stateside before a border inspection police found their visas were forged. The three Chinese, all from Fujian Province, told police that each had paid 150,000 yuan (about US$20,000) to the Singaporean in belief that he would help them to eventually settle in America.

The border police fined the three men an unknown sum and deported the Singaporean.

(Xinhua News Agency November 19, 2007)