A director of an Indian restaurant here was today charged with deliberately underreporting the salaries of 12 of his Indian employees to the Singaporean government to acquire work passes for them.
Abdul Hameed Mohamed Farook, the director of Blue Diamond Restaurant, allegedly made false declarations in connection with 12 applications for work passes for foreign employees from India between November 28, 2012 and May 19, this year.
Of the applications for S Pass and Employment Passes, three were new applications while nine were for renewals, said a report in local daily 'Today'.
Farook, 55, had declared to the Ministry of Manpower that he would pay the 12 employees - whom he intended to employ as cooks, chefs, a manager, a sales manager and a business development manager for the restaurant - monthly salaries between SGD 2,800 and SGD 4,500.
However, he actually intended to pay them salaries lower than what was declared.
Based on the false declarations, the applications were approved and work passes were issued, the ministry said.
If convicted for the 12 charges, Farook is liable to a fine of up to SGD 20,000 or to a jail term of up to two years, or both.
Providing false salary information to the ministry to obtain a work pass is an offence under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA). Offenders can also be permanently barred from employing foreign employees in future.
Farook runs a restaurant in Buffalo Road which is within the 'Little India' precinct of Indian-origin businesses, pubs, shops, hotels and motels.
Last December, some 400 foreign workers rioted in Little India following the death of an Indian national in a bus accident, Singapore's worst street violence in 40 years.
