Four Prosecuted in Kickback Employment Scam

AsiaOne ran this story on 16 July 2009:

Four prosecuted in kickback employment scam

Three employers and one agent have been prosecuted for kickback offences.

This is the first prosecution since new regulations were introduced by the Ministry of Manpower in July 2008.

The employers - Ong Gim Chua, manager of Meeting Point Pub & Lounge, Ke Koon Seng, director of Seng System Engineering Pte Ltd, and Wong Seng Kiong of Guo Tai Mei Trading - were charged for recovering employment-related costs from their foreign workers.

Meanwhile, the agent, Sun Bao Hua of Starseas Consulting Services Pte Ltd, was charged for abetting representatives of four bus companies to receive benefits by paying them to hire foreign workers through her agency.. The for cases involved 22 workers.

Under the new regulations, Work Permit and S Pass conditions prohibit employers from receiving payment as consideration for employing foreign workers, and recovering employment-related costs from foreign workers.

Similarly, the Employment Agency Licence Condition also prohibits employment agencies from offering payment (whether monetary or in kind) to employers, in exchange for hiring foreign workers through them.

Aw Kum Cheong, Divisional Director, Foreign Manpower Management Division, MOM, said, "Kickbacks undermine the integrity of the employment agency industry, and distorts the market for foreign labour. Our foreign worker policies are intended to help companies to meet their legitimate need for foreign workers. Foreign workers should not be brought into Singapore in order to collect fees from them. Such exploitative behaviour will not be tolerated."

Under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, employers who breach Work Permit conditions can be fined up to $5,000 and/or imprisoned for up to six months. They will also be barred from employing foreign workers in the future. Employment agencies that breach the Employment Agency licence conditions will have their licenses revoked and security deposit of $20,000 forfeited.