Kevin Kwan, the author of the novel Crazy Rich Asians, which inspired the film of the same title, is wanted in his home country of Singapore for allegedly defaulting on his military service, the defence ministry said on Wednesday.

Kwan, 44, who also worked as an executive producer of the film, did not attend the Singapore premiere this week.

He left Singapore at 11, when he moved to the United States with his family. Kwan previously said in interviews that he became a US citizen when he was 18.

Singapore’s Ministry of Defence has claimed that Kwan had failed to register for national service in 1990, despite notices and letters sent to his overseas address. It also accused him of having remained overseas without a valid exit permit.

“Mr Kwan is therefore wanted for defaulting on his NS obligations,” the ministry said in a statement to Singapore newspaper the Strait Times. It said Kwan would be liable to a fine of up to S$10,000 (£5,668) “and/or imprisonment of up to three years upon conviction”.

Singapore has a strict law on national service for all male citizens over the age of 18. It is illegal for men to give up citizenship without having completed military service, which is about two years, in the armed forces, the police or the civil defence force.

Kwan’s 1994 application to renounce his Singapore citizenship and a subsequent appeal had been rejected, the ministry said.

Kwan has not yet responded to request for comment.

In his bestselling book, an Asian-American woman experiences culture shock when she meets her boyfriend’s wealthy family in Singapore. In the book, and its sequels China Rich Girlfriend and Rich People Problems, the city-state is depicted as a playground for the super-rich.

Kwan, who was named one of the most influential people in the world by Time magazine this year, comes from a prominent Singapore family. His great-grandfather was the founding director of Singapore’s oldest bank, the Overseas-Chinese Banking Corporation.

The film has been a hit in the US, taking $26.5m (£21m) at the domestic box office over its opening weekend.