3 MES Group companies fined, 4 former directors jailed for employment offences

SINGAPORE: Three companies under the MES Group and four of their former directors were convicted on Thursday (Aug 31) of multiple employment offences, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said.

Among the offences was the false declaration of inflated salaries so workers would meet the requirements for work permits and S Passes to be issued. The workers would then be asked to return part of their wages in cash.

MOM said this was the "largest and most extensive case" of false declaration contraventions investigated by the ministry.

Mini Environment Service was fined S$396,500 (US$293,000), Labourtel Management Corporation S$120,000 and MES Logistics S$59,000.

The companies operate in the logistics and real estate sectors, with Labourtel managing four migrant worker dormitories.

Following the convictions, Labourtel will hand over management of the dormitories to new operators. 

"In view of the convictions, the Ministry of Manpower has assessed that Labourtel's eligibility as a licensed operator under the Foreign Employee Dormitories Act to operate dormitories has been materially and adversely affected," MOM said in a media release.

"MOM is in contact with the relevant parties to transition the dormitories to new operators, within reasonable time and with minimal disruption for the dormitory residents and their employers."

Three former directors of Mini Environment Service and MES Logistics were handed prison sentences for their offences.

Mohamed Jinna Mohamed Abdul Jaleel was sentenced to 42 weeks in prison and fined S$48,000. If he defaults on the fine, he will have to serve an additional 192 days in prison.

Parvis Ahamed Mohamed Ghouse was sentenced to 35 weeks in prison and fined S$42,500. If he defaults on the fine, he will have to serve an additional 170 days in prison.

Chew Chain Loon was sentenced to four months in prison. The fourth individual convicted, former Labourtel director Haja Nawaz, was sentenced to four months and two weeks in prison.

The three companies and four individuals were charged with the offences in March 2021.

They had been barred from employing migrant workers since the offences were uncovered, MOM said. The ministry mounted an operation to probe allegations of illegal conduct at the MES Group of companies in 2019.

THE OFFENCES

Between 2009 and 2019, the three companies submitted 111 false salary declarations to MOM in the course of applying for or renewing work permits and S Passes.

"Haja and Chew carried out the submission of work pass applications and renewals for the three companies," the ministry said.

"Under Parvis and Jinna's directions, Haja and Chew inflated the monthly salaries of various foreign employees, which were determined based on the prevailing requirements for a work permit or S Pass to be issued.

"The employees' declared salaries were credited into their bank accounts. Thereafter, the employees were told to return the difference between their declared monthly salaries and their actual salaries in cash to Haja or Chew."

By doing this, the companies were able to hire more foreign employees than they would otherwise have qualified for, MOM added.

Between 2015 and 2019, Mini Environment Service also submitted 18 false employment declarations to MOM.

"Under Parvis and Jinna's directions, Haja and Chew declared Mini Environment Service to be the official employer of the foreign employees named in the declarations," the ministry said.

"These foreign employees were, however, illegally deployed to work at MES Logistics or Labourtel without valid work passes and undertook different job scopes than what was declared.

"This allowed the companies to circumvent the work pass quotas that were imposed on each of them."

In March and April 2019, Mini Environment Service made its employees work overtime beyond the permitted limit of 72 hours per month as stipulated under the Employment Act.

The divisional director of MOM's Foreign Manpower Management Division Adrian Quek said: "The MES Group had failed to protect its employees' well-being by illegally deploying them and subjecting them to overtime work beyond the legal limit," he said.

"Furthermore, the group had egregiously circumvented our work pass controls, gaining an unfair commercial advantage over other companies.

"MOM will continue to take firm action against companies that contravene our laws."

Those found guilty of making a false statement or providing false information in any application or renewal of a work pass face a fine of up to S$20,000, jail of up to two years, or both.

They will also be barred from employing new foreign workers and renewing the permits of existing foreign workers.

Under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, those found guilty of illegal employment can face a fine of between S$5,000 and S$30,000, a jail term of up to 12 months, or both.

Those convicted of offences involving excessive overtime face a fine of up to S$5,000. Repeat offenders may be fined up to S$10,000, jailed for up to 12 months, or both.