Daily Lessons from Life 11 April 2014 - 8 employers, 2 employment agents charged with falsely declaring salaries

"8 employers, 2 employment agents charged with falsely declaring salaries - CNA 11 April 2014

SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has on Friday charged eight employers (five men and three women) with falsely declaring 41 foreign employees' salaries.

The eight employers -- seven Singaporeans and one Singapore Permanent Resident -- are the franchisees of local convenience chain store 7-Eleven.

Of the two employment agents (EAs) charged, one is a 28-year-old Singaporean director of Ethics Career Solution, and the other is a 32-year-old Indian national working in the same company.

The eight employers allegedly made false declarations between November 11, 2010 and September 11, 2013 when applying for 41 work passes (35 Employment Passes and six S Passes).
One of the criteria for granting EPs or S Passes is that applicants must meet the minimum salary requirement.
MOM's investigations revealed that the eight employers from Vina Trading, Manthra Enterprises, Magnaton Ventures, Nalla Traders, Chandrani Enterprise, Niche Formulas, Changrich Enterprise and Rui Fuels & Services had declared during the application for work passes that they would pay salaries ranging from S$2,400 to S$4,550 to the 41 foreign employees they were hiring.
But the employers allegedly intended to pay the foreign employees salaries that are much lower than the amounts declared.
The employers had thus committed an offence under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA) of furnishing false information to MOM.
MOM's investigations also showed that two employees of Ethics Career Solution, which facilitated the placement of 21 of the 41 foreign employees, allegedly submitted false salary information in the work pass application forms.
The two employees are also charged in court with furnishing false information.
Out of the eight employers, seven had pleaded guilty to the charges.
They were fined between S$8,000 or in default four weeks' imprisonment, and S$56,000 or in default 42 weeks' imprisonment.
One remaining employer has his case adjourned to May 8.
One of the EAs was fined S$22,000 or in default eight weeks' imprisonment and the other was given a S$40,000 fine or in default 15 weeks' imprisonment.
As for the 41 foreign employees involved in the false salary declaration scam, MOM had on February taken action against them.
Some of them had their much lower salaries paid in cash, while some returned cash amounts ranging between S$600 and S$3,350 per month to their employers, after receiving salaries of the declared quantum in their bank accounts.
All were charged in court on February 18 and 27.
Of the 41 accused, 37 were fined between S$5,000 and S$7,000, while four cases are still being heard.
MOM said it carries out stringent checks to detect and enforce against false applications.
The ministry is currently investigating other similar false declaration cases involving 256 foreigners hired by 93 employers."

How ironical that one of the culprits has a company name called: Ethics Career Solution!

Lessons for me are:

1. when the laws are good, the enforcement need to be vigorously implemented so that NO ONE, NO ONE at all, will try their luck! This is especially important when dealing with unethical people who violate the laws!;

2. when strong and vigorous enforcement is taken, the 'on-lookers' or the 'next potential violators' will think very hard before committing the crime. The employers who CHEATED may not realise that they are actually promoting or committing slavery in the 21st century! I was involved with the 'trafficking in person' (TIP) discussion recently and when foreign workers were made to assist or became accomplices in 'cheating' just to keep their jobs in Singapore, they are committing 'TIP'! This is a serious crime measured against basic human dignity and decency though many looked at it as just an economic crime!;

3. the sentencing of these offenders must be given a lot of publicity to show that the MOM is not tolerating such crime. These offenses are serious issues as some Singaporeans are unhappy that the government is not doing enough to protect jobs for Singaporeans due to the one-time uncontrolled inflow of foreign workers; and the defence against such exploitation is strong implemented of laws designed to give Singaporeans peace of mind.

Kudos the MOM officers for bringing MORE such culprits to justice!