Ministry pledges assistance to victims of kickback practices in Singapore
Singapore's Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is urging migrant workers to report "kickback practices" to authorities following a major case last year.
"Migrant workers are encouraged to come forward early and report 'kickback' practices to MOM," the ministry said on a Facebook post. "Workers with valid claims will be allowed a change of employment if they wish to continue working in Singapore."
The ministry made the call as it recalled the case of a former operations manager of Lian Cheng Contracting Pte Ltd, who was sentenced to 24 weeks of imprisonment for collecting kickbacks.
The former manager managed to collect a total of $396,440 from 57 migrant workers between 2014 and 2020.
He was convicted under Singapore's Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, which regulates the employment of foreign employees and protects their well-being.
Adrian Quek, Divisional Director of MOM's Foreign Manpower Management Division, called it "one of the largest cases of kickbacks" investigated by MOM.
"We take a serious view of employers demanding payments from workers as a condition of employment, which is reprehensible and illegal," Quek previously said.
This week, MOM said they also helped the affected migrant workers recover the stolen money.
"The monies recovered from the offender have been returned to affected workers," the ministry said on its Facebook post. "We will continue to safeguard our migrant workers' interests and ensure fair employment for those working in Singapore."
Singapore has more than 1.5 million foreign workers as of June 2024, according to MOM data.
