Written Answer to PQ on Migrant workers affected in kickback offences and the amount of kickbacks paid

NOTICE PAPER NO. 2609 OF 2024 FOR THE SITTING ON 28 FEBRUARY 2024
QUESTION NO. 5563 FOR WRITTEN ANSWER

MP: Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang

To ask the Minister for Manpower for each year in the past three years for investigated cases involving employers receiving kickbacks from migrant workers (a) what is the number of migrant workers affected per employer; and (b) what is the range of the amount of kickbacks paid.

Answer:

1. From 2021 to 2023, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) investigated about 210 cases per year for alleged kickback offences. However, after investigations, about 70 employers were taken to task each year for receiving kickbacks from migrant workers. The corresponding number of migrant workers affected was about 7 per employer, with each worker paying about $2,000 to $7,000 in kickbacks.