SINGAPORE — A computer firm director was yesterday charged with falsely declaring the salaries of 20 foreign employees when applying for their Employment Passes (EPs), said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
This is the third major case this year involving employers being charged by the ministry with making false salary declarations. The MOM said it is investigating other similar cases involving 254 foreigners hired by 78 employers.
Singaravelu Murugan, director of MN Computer Systems, allegedly provided false salary information between July 5, 2012, and Sept 6 last year in 17 application forms and three renewal application forms for EPs. Applicants for such passes must meet minimum salary requirements.
During the application and renewal for work passes, the Singaporean allegedly declared that he would pay S$4,500 per month to each of his 20 foreign employees, the MOM said in a statement. However, its investigations showed that Murugan, 44, intended to pay them salaries lower than what was declared.
Based on the false declarations, the applications and renewals were subsequently approved and EPs were issued to the employees, who were hired as software engineers.
The MOM said based on its investigations, all 20 employees were unaware that a higher salary had been declared and were thus not complicit in the alleged scam. They have since stopped working for MN Computer Systems and are now employed by other companies.
On Tuesday, Woolim Plant Engineering and Construction was convicted of making false statements to the MOM in applications for 15 work passes for its Bangladeshi workers. The company had declared salaries that were higher than the amounts paid to the employees. It pleaded guilty to the charges and was fined S$36,000.
On April 10, the MOM charged eight employers, which were franchisees of local convenience store 7-Eleven, with providing false salary information to the Controller of Work Passes. Seven have been convicted and fined between S$8,000 and S$56,000. The case against the eighth employer is ongoing.
In its statement, the MOM reiterated that employers who make false salary declarations will be dealt with severely. If convicted, offenders can be fined up to S$20,000 and/or jailed for up to two years.
source: todayonline.com
