SINGAPORE: Two Filipino women who used forged university certificates in their applications for employment passes were jailed on Thursday (Jul 17).
Conol Almira Joy Torres, 29, was given six weeks' jail, Torres Alyssa Riva Fernan, 29, was jailed for four weeks.
Almira had two more charges than Alyssa, for declaring an inflated salary and submitting a forged certificate for a previous job.
The court heard that Almira had previously obtained a job working at "Ally Mcbean's Food Supply" through a Philippine agent known only as "Cory".
Around September 2020, she contacted Cory again and was told about a job opportunity at CL Enterprise - she would be paid S$2,200 (US$1,700) monthly for the role of assistant sales manager.
CL Enterprise operates Mr Fix retail outlets selling kitchenware and hand soap.
Almira agreed to go for an interview at CL Enterprise's warehouse at Tuas Link in September 2020 with its director, Tseng Yi Long Samuel.
Mr Tseng told her that the job was to man an outlet in Marine Parade.
After the interview, CL Enterprise submitted an application for an employment pass for Almira to work as an assistant sales manager.
Almira then submitted a forged certificate from the Ateneo De Manila university in support of her employment pass application.
In November 2020, she signed a declaration form stating that her fixed monthly salary would be S$5,800, and confirming that she held a Bachelor's Degree of Science from Ateneo De Manila university.
She knew this was false, as she had not gone to that university, and Cory and Mr Tseng had both told her that her actual salary would be S$2,200 per month.
For 15 months from November 2020 to February 2022, Almira worked at CL Enterprise, taking stock of kitchenware, selling products to customers and occasionally manning the cashier.
She received S$2,200 in cash monthly, less than half the declared salary of S$5,800.
The prosecutor from the Manpower Ministry said the salary declaration is considered by the Controller of Work Passes when determining whether to grant an employment pass.
"Had the controller known that the accused's actual salary would be S$2,200 and not S$5,800 as declared, the employment pass would not have been issued to her," said the prosecutor.
Around September 2020, co-accused Alyssa got to know Cory through her cousin, Almira.
Cory said there was a suitable job for Alyssa at CL Enterprise as assistant operations manager, but Alyssa had to pay S$4,500 before her application could be processed.
Alyssa took a loan in the Philippines to make the payment to Cory.
Cory then arranged for Alyssa to have an interview with Mr Tseng in September 2020. As she performed satisfactorily during the interview, the company decided to hire her.
On Sep 23, 2020, CL Enterprise submitted an application for an employment pass for Alyssa to work as an assistant operations manager.
As part of the application, Alyssa submitted a forged Bachelor's Degree of Science from De La Salle University in Manila.
The employment pass was issued to her in December 2020 and she worked at CL Enterprise from November 2020 to February 2022 performing duties like price tagging, arranging stock, receiving inventory and cashiering.
She earned a monthly salary of S$2,160 for 15 months.
The prosecutor similarly said that the employment pass would not have been issued to Alyssa had the Controller of Work Passes known that she did not have the stated university degree.
MOM began investigating the two women in February 2022 after receiving information of potential contraventions of the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act.
The prosecution added that the women's false declarations would not have been detected had MOM not conducted "a random inspection on CL Enterprise".
The prosecution sought seven to nine weeks' jail for Almira and five to seven weeks' jail for Alyssa, stating the difficulty of detection and how others were deprived of the job opportunities the women took.
CNA has contacted MOM for information on whether it is investigating the employer and why it took a random check to detect the cases instead of having checks at the Employment Pass application stage.
For submitting false information in an employment pass application, the women could have been jailed for up to two years, fined up to S$20,000, or both.
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Conol Almira Joy Torres, 29, was given six weeks' jail, Torres Alyssa Riva Fernan, 29, was jailed for four weeks.
Almira had two more charges than Alyssa, for declaring an inflated salary and submitting a forged certificate for a previous job.
The court heard that Almira had previously obtained a job working at "Ally Mcbean's Food Supply" through a Philippine agent known only as "Cory".
Around September 2020, she contacted Cory again and was told about a job opportunity at CL Enterprise - she would be paid S$2,200 (US$1,700) monthly for the role of assistant sales manager.
CL Enterprise operates Mr Fix retail outlets selling kitchenware and hand soap.
Almira agreed to go for an interview at CL Enterprise's warehouse at Tuas Link in September 2020 with its director, Tseng Yi Long Samuel.
Mr Tseng told her that the job was to man an outlet in Marine Parade.
After the interview, CL Enterprise submitted an application for an employment pass for Almira to work as an assistant sales manager.
Almira then submitted a forged certificate from the Ateneo De Manila university in support of her employment pass application.
In November 2020, she signed a declaration form stating that her fixed monthly salary would be S$5,800, and confirming that she held a Bachelor's Degree of Science from Ateneo De Manila university.
She knew this was false, as she had not gone to that university, and Cory and Mr Tseng had both told her that her actual salary would be S$2,200 per month.
For 15 months from November 2020 to February 2022, Almira worked at CL Enterprise, taking stock of kitchenware, selling products to customers and occasionally manning the cashier.
She received S$2,200 in cash monthly, less than half the declared salary of S$5,800.
The prosecutor from the Manpower Ministry said the salary declaration is considered by the Controller of Work Passes when determining whether to grant an employment pass.
"Had the controller known that the accused's actual salary would be S$2,200 and not S$5,800 as declared, the employment pass would not have been issued to her," said the prosecutor.
ALYSSA'S INVOLVEMENT
Around September 2020, co-accused Alyssa got to know Cory through her cousin, Almira.
Cory said there was a suitable job for Alyssa at CL Enterprise as assistant operations manager, but Alyssa had to pay S$4,500 before her application could be processed.
Alyssa took a loan in the Philippines to make the payment to Cory.
Cory then arranged for Alyssa to have an interview with Mr Tseng in September 2020. As she performed satisfactorily during the interview, the company decided to hire her.
On Sep 23, 2020, CL Enterprise submitted an application for an employment pass for Alyssa to work as an assistant operations manager.
As part of the application, Alyssa submitted a forged Bachelor's Degree of Science from De La Salle University in Manila.
The employment pass was issued to her in December 2020 and she worked at CL Enterprise from November 2020 to February 2022 performing duties like price tagging, arranging stock, receiving inventory and cashiering.
She earned a monthly salary of S$2,160 for 15 months.
The prosecutor similarly said that the employment pass would not have been issued to Alyssa had the Controller of Work Passes known that she did not have the stated university degree.
MOM began investigating the two women in February 2022 after receiving information of potential contraventions of the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act.
The prosecution added that the women's false declarations would not have been detected had MOM not conducted "a random inspection on CL Enterprise".
The prosecution sought seven to nine weeks' jail for Almira and five to seven weeks' jail for Alyssa, stating the difficulty of detection and how others were deprived of the job opportunities the women took.
CNA has contacted MOM for information on whether it is investigating the employer and why it took a random check to detect the cases instead of having checks at the Employment Pass application stage.
For submitting false information in an employment pass application, the women could have been jailed for up to two years, fined up to S$20,000, or both.
Continue reading...