Computer Firm Director Charged For False Declaration of Salaries

Accused falsely declared salaries of 20 Employment Pass holders

1. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) charged 44-year-old Singaporean Singaravelu Murugan (the accused) in the State Courts today for false declaration of salaries to the Controller of Work Passes. As the Director of MN Computer Systems (S) Pte Ltd and acting on behalf of the company, he allegedly made false declarations between 5 July 2012 and 6 September 2013 in 17 application forms and three renewal application forms for Employment Passes (EPs).
   
   Case Details
2. One of the criteria for granting EPs is that applicants must meet the minimum salary requirement. During the application/renewal for work passes, the accused allegedly declared that he would pay $4,500 a month to each of his 20 foreign employees. However, he intended to pay them salaries lower than what was declared. Based on the false declarations, the 17 applications and three renewals were subsequently approved and EPs were issued to the 20 foreign employees, who were employed as software engineers.
3. The accused, in his capacity as a director of the company, was charged with 20 counts of false declaration of salaries to MOM, an offence under Section 22(1)(d) read with Section 20(1)(a) of the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (Chapter 91A) (EFMA).
4. MOM had also investigated the 20 EP holders to determine if they were involved in the false declarations. All of them were unaware that a higher salary had been declared and were therefore not complicit in the scam. They have since stopped working for MN Computer Systems (S) Pte Ltd and are now working for new employers.
   
   MOM Takes Errant Employers to Task
5. This is the third major case this year involving employers making false salary declarations for which MOM has commenced prosecution. On 10 April 2014¹, MOM charged eight employers who were franchisees of local convenience store 7-Eleven, and seven were convicted and fined between $8,000 (in default four weeks’ imprisonment) and $56,000 (in default 42 weeks’ imprisonment). The case against the eighth employer is still on-going.
6. More recently on 17 June 2014², Woolim Plant Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd was convicted of making false statements to MOM in the applications of 15 work passes for its Bangladeshi workers. The company had declared salaries that were higher than the amounts actually paid to the foreign employees. The company pleaded guilty to the charges and was fined $36,000.
   
   Employers must make truthful declarations
7. Prosecution of employers for making false salary declarations is part of MOM’s continual enforcement efforts against deliberate circumvention of the work pass framework. MOM is currently investigating other similar false declaration cases involving 254 foreigners hired by 78 employers.
8. All work pass applicants must make accurate, complete and truthful declarations to the Controller of Work Passes. Making a false declaration to the Controller through the fraudulent submission of salary information to circumvent work pass eligibility criteria is a deliberate attempt to deceive MOM. Offenders will be severely dealt with – if convicted, they can be fined up to $20,000, and / or imprisoned up to two years per charge.
9. Members of the public who know of persons or employers who contravene the EFMA should report the matter to MOM at Tel: (65) 6438 5122 or email mom_fmmd@mom.gov.sg. All information will be kept strictly confidential.