THE Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is prosecuting an employer for falsely declaring the number of locals he hired to qualify for more foreign workers.

Sambnani Anil Pritamdas, the owner of Spize - the Makan Place, made false declarations in 15 Work Pass applications from February 2007 to March this year.

He is alleged to have falsely declared in Work Permit applications that Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions were paid to Singaporeans who were purportedly employed by him when they were not.

Sambnani faces 10 charges for making false declarations and five charges for abetting his brother and manager to make false declarations.

MOM's Divisional Director of the Foreign Manpower Management Division, Mr Aw Kum Cheong, said:

'Under the Work Pass framework, employers have to employ a certain number of local workers before they can apply to hire foreign ones. This is to prevent employers from over-relying on foreign workers at the expense of local workers.'

They can be fined up to $15,000 or jailed a year for Inflating the foreign worker entitlement.

Anyone who colludes with an employer by providing his particulars for use in making fraudulent CPF contributions in order to meet the requirements of Work Permit applications may also be charged for abetting the offence.