Singaporean man jailed 40 months for illegal labour importation offences

A 54-year-old male Singaporean, Leong Kwai Tong (“Leong”), has been convicted for illegal labour importation offences under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (“EFMA”). He was sentenced on 14 October 2025 to 40 months’ imprisonment and fined $3,000 (in default two weeks’ imprisonment). He was also ordered to pay $105,000 for the proceeds of his crime.

2 Leong faced a total of 66 charges under the EFMA. He pleaded guilty to 22 charges, with the remaining 44 charges taken into consideration for the purpose of sentencing.  

Case details

3 Leong was charged for engaging in a conspiracy with 4 other male Singaporeans , Tan Tai Ji (“Tan”), Sim Kian Boon, Terence (“Terence”), Neo Hock Guan, Roy (“Roy”), and Cheng Tee Howe (“Cheng”),  to set up shell companies for the purpose of obtaining foreign work passes for foreigners who wished to legalise their stay in Singapore in exchange for monetary payment. 60 foreigners obtained work passes under a total of twelve shell companies which were set up between 2019 and 2020.

4 Leong managed the administrative aspects of the scheme, which included using the SingPass credentials of the director-in-names to set up shell companies and submit work pass applications to MOM. The foreigners were released after their arrival in Singapore and did not work for any of the shell companies. To evade detection, Leong fabricated company documents and staged meetings at the shell companies’ registered addresses to create the illusion of legitimate business operations. He also assisted with collecting monthly payments of $2,000 to $5,000 from the foreigners to maintain their work passes while they were in Singapore.

5 In addition, Leong sourced and engaged local phantom workers to inflate the foreign manpower work pass quota for the shell companies. He paid the foreigners’ monthly levy and made monthly CPF contributions to give the false impression that the companies had ongoing operations. In total, Leong benefitted around $105,000 from this unlawful enterprise. Roy, Terence, and Cheng also allegedly received monies for being director-in-names of the shell companies.

6 For their involvement in the scheme, Terence and Roy have been convicted and sentenced, while Cheng’s sentencing is pending. The sentencing details are appended in the Annex. The case against Tan is still before the Courts.

7 Apart from this scheme, Leong separately conspired with another Singaporean, 63-year-old Teo Tia Fok (“Teo”), to set up another shell company, TL Wood, in 2021, for the same purpose of obtaining foreign work passes for foreigners who wished to legalise their stay in Singapore in exchange for monetary payment. Leong enlisted Teo to source for local phantom workers to inflate the work pass quota for TL Wood. TL Wood falsely declared a total of 6 foreigners to be employees. These foreigners had paid Leong between $2,000 and $2,500 a month to maintain their work passes to continue remaining in Singapore. This scheme generated a monthly profit of about $5,000, which was split between Leong and Teo.  

8 Of the 66 foreigners involved in the case, 15 have been convicted and sentenced. One individual’s case is still pending in Court. 16 foreigners left Singapore before investigations commenced. The remaining 34 foreigners were issued warnings and subsequently repatriated.

Illegal Labour Importation Undermines Our Work Pass Framework

9 Mr Adrian Quek, Divisional Director at the Ministry of Manpower’s ("MOM") Foreign Manpower Management Division, said: “Misuse of work pass is a serious offence that undermines the integrity of our work pass framework. MOM will continue to take tough enforcement action against all offenders who deliberately circumvent our laws. Those who attempt to exploit our system will face harsh penalties, including prosecution, fines and imprisonment. We maintain zero tolerance for such violations and will not hesitate to take decisive action against perpetrators."

10 Members of the public who are aware of suspicious employment activities, or who know of persons or employers who contravene the EFMA, should report the matter to MOM via MOM’s eService “Report an infringement”. All information will be kept strictly confidential.

Annex