Founder of The Malayan Council eateries handed 29 weeks’ jail, fined for work pass breaches

SINGAPORE – The founder of a chain of popular restaurants operated by The Malayan Council was on Aug 27 sentenced to 29 weeks’ jail and a fine of $22,000 for a slew of offences related to work pass breaches.

Mohamad Hafiz Salim Alkhatib, 38, needed workers but could not hire them with work permits as he did not meet the required manpower quota.

Under current regulations, the total number of work permit and S Pass holders hired by a food and beverage business cannot exceed 35 per cent of its workforce.

Hafiz circumvented the rules by hiring 13 foreign workers through an agent as S Pass and Employment Pass employees between 2018 and 2019 and then underpaying them.

At the time, S Pass holders had to be paid more than $2,500 a month, while Employment Pass holders were to draw more than $3,500 a month.

Hafiz paid the 13 workers only between $1,400 and $1,600 a month each, but falsely declared to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) that they were receiving between $2,600 and $5,900 each.

When the workers noticed the discrepancy between the salaries they received and the income stated in the in-principle approval letters that they received from MOM, they confronted Hafiz.

He promised them that they would eventually get the salaries declared in the letters, but they never did.

MOM conducted an inspection in August 2019 at The Malayan Council’s Bussorah Street outlet and found two foreign employees who were working as a dishwasher and a waiter without valid work passes. At the time, the chain operated three outlets – in Dunlop Street, Bussorah Street and Winstedt Road.

The ministry

launched an investigation soon after the inspection

and interviewed a number of workers.

On Aug 29, 2019, Hafiz held a meeting with 12 of the workers to find out what MOM had asked them. He tried to instigate at least three of his employees to lie to investigators that they were paid the falsely declared salaries.

To cover his tracks, he said he would pay the workers their declared salaries first and withdraw the difference later.

The workers did not act on his instructions and instead alerted MOM.

Hafiz was arrested on Oct 10, 2019. While out on bail, he tried again to get his employees to lie to MOM. They did not do so.

MOM senior prosecuting officer Mohd Fadhli Fadzil had sought a jail term of 32 to 40 weeks and a fine of $22,000 to $26,000 for the sole proprietor of The Malayan Council.

The prosecutor said Hafiz financially benefited from the scheme and saved $296,251 by not paying his workers their declared salaries.

He also exploited one employee by lying to her that she had to pay him $2,500 in work pass application fees when there were no such fees. The court heard that the employee paid him $1,700 in total from February to August 2019. 

Mr Mohd Fadhli said that Hafiz showed a lack of remorse, and added that he tried to defraud the authorities further by instigating his employees to lie to MOM or retract their statements.

“The accused never made any efforts to remedy his actions by coming clean to the authorities with respect to these offences until he pleaded guilty,” he said.

Hafiz pleaded guilty to 15 charges under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA). Another 26 similar charges were taken into consideration for his sentencing.

In a Facebook post on Sept 3 in relation to Hafiz’s conviction, MOM said employers must uphold the integrity of Singapore’s employment laws.

It said: “Employers who contravene the EFMA risk fines and imprisonment. If you suspect any illegal employment, report it to MOM. Together, we can better protect our workers.”