Businessman charged for collecting kickbacks from foreign workers

IMPACT – MEDIUM

The Ministry of Manpower has charged the managing director of a Singaporean company with 20 counts of collecting kickbacks from foreign employees, in a case that highlights how serious MOM is about cracking down on employers who mistreat foreign employees.

Key Points:

• The man in question, Ng Boon Cheng, the managing director of Lian Lee Wooden Case Maker Co Pte Ltd, was charged this week with illegally withholding 105,235 Singaporean dollars (about US$75,145) from employees as a condition of their continued employment with his company.
• If convicted, Ng could be fined up to SG$30,000 and face up to two years of imprisonment for each offense.
• In similar cases last year, the managing director of a Singaporean company was fined SG$169,000 and the owner of a nightclub was convicted and sentenced to four months’ imprisonment and fined SG$35,000 for taking kickbacks from foreign workers.

BAL Analysis: MOM is aggressively investigating employers who take kickbacks or engage in other mistreatment of foreign workers. MOM has asked anyone with information about employers who operate in violation of the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act to contact the agency by telephone at (65) 6438 5122 or email at mom_fmmd@mom.gov.sg.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice group in Singapore. For additional information, please contact singapore@bal.com.

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