Man fined for receiving kickbacks

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean man was fined S$13,000 on Thursday after pleading guilty to charges of making a false statement, receiving kickbacks and being an unlicensed employment agent.

Kamsani Mohd Yusoff, 50, faced charges under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA) and Employment Agencies Act (EAA).

He was not charged under the tougher laws (Amendments to the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act) that took effect on Friday.

In 2011, investigations revealed that Kamsani had applied for a Work Permit application for Filipino foreign domestic worker (FDW), Mary Grace Zulueta Magarde, despite having no intention to employ her.

As an FDW employer, Kamsani was supposed to pay a monthly levy but the levy was paid for by Magarde instead. Kamsani collected S$510 from her between September and November 2009.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is currently looking for Magarde to assist in the investigations.

Kamsani was also convicted for being an unlicensed employment agent.

He had conspired with two Singaporeans to deceive MOM by submitting false statements.

In one case, he made a false statement that Yusnah Binte Mohd Yusof would be an employer to a Filipino FDW Revegie Ybanez Gador.

Yusnah never had the intention to employ Gador. Yusnah however agreed in exchange for a small fee from Kamsani, despite being aware that Gador would not be working for her.

The foreign domestic workers also had to pay between S$1,500 and S$2,000 as "fees" to Kamsani for applying work passes for them in order to validate their stay in Singapore.

Another Filipino Edwina Namoc Manlapuz was fined S$5,000 for falsely stating that she would be employed as a FDW for Nur Siti Aminah Johari.

Investigations showed that sometime in August 2010, 32—year—old Manlapuz had approached Kamsani and asked him for help to look for an employer in name.

Manlapuz did this so that she could obtain a work pass to stay in Singapore with her boyfriend and also to complete her part—time studies.

Kamsani subsequently approached Nur Siti Aminah to be the employer in name for Manlapuz and be paid S$280 a month.

Kamsani then informed Manlapuz that she had to pay him S$1,800 for the work pass. Manlapuz was to pay him S$500 a month which would used to pay for her monthly levy and as payment to Nur Siti Aminah.

After her work permit application was approved and work permit issued in late September 2010, Manlapuz stayed with her boyfriend till late February 2011.

Manlapuz then rented a room for S$500 a month from Nur Siti Aminah till late August 2011.

Throughout this period, Manlapuz did not work for Aminah at all. She completed her part—time studies and was supported financially by her boyfriend.

The case against Nur Siti Aminah will be mentioned again on 27 November.

MOM said in the first ten months of the year, 10 individuals were convicted for kickback offences and fined between S$2,000 and S$5,000. The highest penalty imposed so far was two weeks’ jail.

For the same period, 44 employers were also convicted for false declaration offences. Nearly half were fined between S$5,000 and S$62,500. The highest penalty so far was a jail term of 48 weeks.

— CNA/ck