Construction Company Owner Faces 85 EFMA Charges

Charges include false declaration and receipt of prohibited payments amounting to $250,000

1. In the Subordinate Courts today, a 29-year-old Singaporean, Umarul Farouk Bin Mohamed Ibrahim, was charged with 85 counts under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA) of making false declarations in Work Permit applications and recovering levies and receiving prohibited payments as consideration for employment amounting to $250,000 from 46 foreign employees.
2. In his applications for Work Permits submitted between 27 August 2010 and 24 August 2011, Farouk, the sole proprietor of construction company, F & I Engineering & Services, allegedly falsely declared the number of local employees he employed to inflate the company’s foreign worker entitlement.
3. He also allegedly falsely declared in his Work Permit applications that 46 foreign employees would be working for him as construction workers when he had no intention of employing them.
4. In addition to these false declaration offences, Farouk was also charged for recovering levies and receiving prohibited payments as consideration for employment from his foreign employees. He allegedly collected monies from the 46 foreign employees he brought in between 1 November 2010 and 30 November 2011. Each foreign employee paid monthly sums of money ranging from $450 to $520 of which $380 went towards the payment of foreign worker levies and Farouk allegedly pocketed the rest.
5. The Table below shows the breakdown of the 85 charges that the accused faced. The case against the accused will next be heard in court on 14 February 2013.
   
   

   Charged	Company	Sector	Number of charges under EFMA
   Umarul Farouk Bin Mohamed Ibrahim	F & I Engineering & Services	Construction	85 - 30 for receiving prohibited payments as consideration for employment and levies contrary to Section 22(1)(a) EFMA - 30 for false declaration of “phantom workers” contrary to Section 22(1)(d) EFMA - 25 for false declaration of employment under Section 22(1)(d) EFMA.

   False Declarations and Restrictions on Taking of Monies from Foreign Employees
6. Submitting false information to MOM to circumvent work pass application criteria is a serious act of deceit. Furthermore, foreign employees brought into Singapore without any genuine prospect of employment create problems when they are left in the lurch. Employers taking monies or other benefits from their foreign employees are blatantly exploiting these foreign employees, and such abhorrent practices will not be tolerated.
7. All employers must comply with foreign manpower employment regulations. It is the responsibility of all employers to make accurate, complete and truthful declarations to the Controller of Work Passes in work pass applications.
8. To enhance deterrence, the penalties under the EFMA were increased in November 2012. Under the revised EFMA, offenders who are prosecuted for making false declarations to MOM will be subject to enhanced penalties of a maximum fine of $20,000 or a jail term of up to 24 months, or both. Taking monies from foreign employees as consideration for employment is now a new stand-alone criminal offence. Offenders are subject to enhanced penalties of a maximum fine of $30,000, or a jail term of up to two years, or both.
9. Members of the public with information on employment-related offences can call the MOM hotline at (65) 6438 5122 or e-mail at mom_fmmd@mom.gov.sg to provide information. Calls and e-mails will be kept strictly confidential.