Ten Employers of 'Phantom' Workers Face 369 Charges

The Ministry of Manpower released this annoucement on its website on 27 February 2009 @ www.mom.gov.sg/publish/momportal/en/press_room/press_releases/2009/20090227-ten_employers.html:

Ten Employers of 'Phantom' Workers Face 369 Charges

Ten people from 21 businesses were charged in the Subordinate Courts today (27 February 2009) for falsely declaring the number of local workers employed so as to inflate their foreign worker entitlement.

2. The arrests and prosecutions were the culmination of painstaking intelligence probes and investigation by officers from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) over the past few months. Among the 21 companies – the biggest case involved the SME Group of companies, which provides cleaning services. Lim Chye Cheng (林才靖) and Lee Kong Weng (李广荣) face 101 charges each under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA).

Proactive enforcement pays off for MOM

3. Since late 2008, MOM placed the SME Group under surveillance due to suspicions that they were employing 'phantom' workers. MOM's preliminary investigations so far have pointed to one Lim Chye Cheng, who was apprehended on 26 February, as a key player in this entire scam involving the 14 companies in the Group.

4. In Feb 2009, as investigations were ongoing, a group of foreign nationals working for some companies under the Group lodged complaints regarding salary arrears. Some of the arrears have since been settled with MOM's intervention. Action is underway to help the workers secure their remaining salary arrears, and to facilitate their return to their home country after ensuring that all outstanding employment issues have been resolved.

5. Besides this case, eight other persons involved in construction, marine, logistics, restaurant, and manufacturing businesses face similar charges.

Table 1: List of Persons Charged on 27 Feb 2009 (Please visit MOM's website for the list)

6. MOM has already put in place stringent processes and checks to flag out unusual company profiles, which may be an indication of the existence of 'phantom' workers. On-site checks are also conducted at companies to ascertain if the employees are indeed working for the company.

7. "The SME Group case is unusual due to the number of foreign workers involved. The other cases brought to the court's attention today, involving a smaller number of 'phantom' workers, are more typical. Overall, the success of Operation Sentinel illustrates MOM's capability to detect and go after employers of 'phantom' workers," said Aw Kum Cheong, Divisional Director of MOM's Foreign Manpower Management Division. "The officers who have been leading these investigations over the past few months have done well to break this scam and arrest the lead mastermind. We will not let off employers who engage in such illegal behaviour. Errant employers will face a fine, jail and be barred from hiring any foreign workers altogether." he added.

MOM warns errant employers to stop such practices immediately

8. Employers who have resorted to 'phantom' workers should immediately stop doing so. They should employ genuine local workers or cancel the work permits of their existing foreign workers to ensure compliance with foreign worker quotas. If they choose to continue with such fraudulent conduct, they will face the full consequences of the law.

False Declarations in Work Pass Application an Offence

9. Under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, inflating the foreign worker entitlement by falsely declaring the number of local workers is punishable with a fine of up to $15,000, or 12 months imprisonment, or both. Besides the employer, the 'phantom' worker may also face prosecution for abetting the offence.

10. In November 2008, MOM had prosecuted the owner of Spize - The Makan Place (operating at 409 River Valley Road), Sambnani Anil Pritamdas, for making false declarations in 15 Work Pass applications from February 2007 to March 2008.