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    18 Chinese nationals jailed over fake degrees

    For their involvement in a fake degree scam, at least 18 foreign workers from China were sentenced earlier this week to jail in Singapore for four weeks each.

    The workers had been found by a local court to have provided forged certificates to obtain work passes to work for T Y Enterprise and Sun Blues Cleaning Maintenance.

    A spokesman for the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said that while another 10 workers from China will be charged with similar offences on Thursday, another nine are being repatriated after being served with warning letters “for providing false information to MOM’s employment inspectors”.

    Arriving in Singapore early last year, the 37 Chinese nationals in all had applied for employment and S passes with “university degrees” in hotel management from Jiangsu, Shandong and Henan universities.

    While the workers knew their degrees were fake and had lied in their applications for employment passes, they claimed they had little choice after having paid S$8,000 each to agents in China to land a job here.

    However, the promise of a high-paying job was dashed after they found themselves scrubbing floors and clearing rubbish. It is understood that some of them were farmers back home and had landed jobs as cleaning supervisors.

    The three universities mentioned do not offer a degree in hotel management and that the degrees were fake, The New Paper reported.

    Meanwhile, the employers who were involved in hiring the workers, a total of 17 men and 1 woman, will be charged in court at a later date.

    One of the workers, Liu Demin, 36, had pleaded to the court for leniency when his case was heard on Tuesday, saying that he had paid a substantial amount to the agent.

    Speaking to the court interpreter in Mandarin, he said, “If I did not follow his instructions (about the forged degree certificate), I would not get the money back. I have to support sickly parents and two school-going children.”

    In June this year, the same paper had reported that Liu and another worker, Wang Kangxun, 31, had complained about the unusual pay practice adopted by their company.

    It was this issue which shed light to the fake degree scam.

    The workers were each paid a monthly salary of S$2,650 which was transferred into their bank accounts, but after payday, they each had to return around S$1,600 to a man sent by their employer. They claimed not to have known why there were asked to do that.

    For an S pass holder, the worker must have a fixed monthly salary of at least $2,000, and at least a degree or diploma while the minimum salary for Employment Pass holders is $2,800.

    While such scams are not new, non-governmental group Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) said this is the largest case of employers using workers with fake certificates. Its spokesman alleged that the employers use the scam to get around the dependency ceiling imposed by MOM.

    For making false declaration in a work pass application, the Chinese nationals could have been fined up to $15,000 and/or sentenced up to 12 months’ jail.

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    930 comments

    • Jimmy Lee  •  7 months ago
      there you are foreign talents cheating their way to top cleaning jobs at low pay. the agents and managers of ty enterprise and sun blues cleaning companys must be jailed too for abetting this crime. surely they all in the know.the merceneries in this case the agents should be double jailed and their licence revoked.shame on these crooked people bringing ft into this red dot spore.
    • Kh  •  7 months ago
      too bad too bad ,wtf
    • A  •  8 months ago
      what about china nationals PR who owned pte ppties and have HDB flats??????
      • harryho 7 months ago
        The simple answer is change the Gahmen as soon as possible for protecting foreigner trash on this island.
    • A  •  8 months ago
      any corruption involved in HDB that HDB is not doing anything to arrest and take action of such foreigners having pte properties
      • harryho 7 months ago
        Even Gahmen officials also own HDB flat and pte property at JB,lol.
    • aristo  •  8 months ago
      It's happens long time ago with other national's , for example the filipinos, with professional certificate's that had landed them with good pay and yet don't know how to work, need to teach and trained them. Later after 6 months of OJT's or 1 year at work's, know how and skills that they had leant from the local's...better off now...becomes big headed and takes away our rice bowl, and we the local being kick off from our works and they the FT gets the work permenantly. That who the employer's did. Even they the FT gets a good pay then us. We needs to works for donkey years to get that kind of pay, yet when this Ft came and started work with higher pays then us local's, yet do not know how to start work independantly. It's happened many years back. rest assured, I'm one of the suffering party. Being kick out of work and till now out of work. I do not know why the employer's so engrossed to take FT's (professionals). Due to what capabalities and expertise that they the FT's bring along with them, Fake certificates or perhap fake identity. These is what had happened and these is what we the local's suffering now. I thought as what the government had bragging off years ago, proud of, the best workforce in the world and now bringing in FT to strengthen the economies?? What happens to us the locals is keep on struggling to survive within the laws. Do the governments really taking care of us. All they care off is levy and money coming in when the emplyer's do engage the FT's.
      I thought when we declare ourselve as !st world country....the government should follows the 1st world standards for the people's.
      We all know and the government knows well what is the 1st world country standards, yet nothing sorts of or giving us that standards. the only things that the government show to the world is environments surrounding, services to the public's especially to the visitorsetc. Recents years ago, the governments had spoken about the middle and upper class sort of people's. Where are we now as the working class citezens, lower class of singaporeans. Working class too have their standards nowdays. Where are our standards as 1st world country...are we given the 1st world standards treatments....I am not working for several years now, are the government suppose to ease my pain and suffering or perhaps help me out. Why the government helping the Foreigner's to engage a good pay salaries towards the FT's and yet abondon us the locals to suffers to the grave. I thought the government should helps us out, as we the 2nd generation of people's that makes the country works. Our father's the 1st gen's had worked hand in hand to make these country as what it is today. Our fore father's and father's had made it firmed and secured for us the 3rd gen's to proceed wih our future's. They had secured our future and inspiration for us to carry on.
      Why he government wants us to keep on thinking how to survive in our own country. I's goes back to our forefather's hardship again. Remember, for the people's, by the people's and from the people's you the government are in power.
      • Somewhere 7 months ago
        Agree! GET OUT FOREIGN TRASH! YOU ARE A NOBODY IN YOUR OWN COUNTRY SO GET THE F$%*!G NEWS, You and your acting big, pack up and go home to your own homeland! PINOY TRASH! So talkative in public places all! you think your country is it? because the road so noisy with your cheap transportation that is why you talk so loudly, BAD HABIT DIE HARD !! DEAF PINOYS!
      • jessica 7 months ago
        This FT Centre Manager's salary must be very cheap. With her standard english spoken, OMG she is not qualified!!!! I think I have better qualifications, experiences and speaks good english, I am better qualified than her.
    • Emak  •  8 months ago
      This is only the tip of the iceberg. Scrap the bottom, and extend it to Govt agencies more skeletons will be found. This is what the Govt so called foreign talent- "talent to cheat". Ha Ha
    • sheikA  •  8 months ago
      It will appear as though we lack talent to cause trouble in our country, so much so ,that we areimporting foreign talent to cause trouble for us. Thanks
    • Nor  •  8 months ago
      after all, as long as u can speak chinese.. even a farmer can become supervisor in singapore.
      • harryho 7 months ago
        Such good actor also took a cab from Sentosa construction site all the way to those selected Serangoon hardware supplier to collect commission.
    • frank  •  8 months ago
      COME ON...YOU DONT NEED DEGREES TO WORK AS CLEANERS!!!! SINGAPORE SHOULD WAIVE THIS STUPID REQUIREMENT AND NOT FORCED POOR PEOPLE TO RESORT TO FAKE DEGREES!!! JUST ADMIT LOCALS DO NOT WANT TO DO THIS JOBS...AND STOP K=AMKING THINGS DIFFICULT FOR THEM TO MAKE AN HONEST LIVING...MR MILLION DOLLAR MINISTERS!!!!!
      • harryho 7 months ago
        Mr Million sleep with a calculator round the clock.
    • Helena  •  8 months ago
      MOM have to check on everyone not only specifically to Filipinos. Besides, Singaporeans must accept that employers are moe willing to employ FT than locals who demand so much pay and do nothing.
    • Martin W  •  8 months ago
      regarding the ISA matter, we are not allow to comment,, Yahoo Sg is becoming PAP's watchdog also now.. Someone in It pls setup something for the hard truth of Singaporean
    • frank  •  8 months ago
      ONLY IN SINGAPORE ARE FOREIGNERS BEING VICTIMISED AND PUNISHED AGAIN AND ROBBED BY THE GOVERNMENT
    • JOVEN  •  8 months ago
      i did received a letter from MOM too saying doubtful info on my application and asked my company to verify my degree cert. Now i have proof that mine is genuine.
    • Miffy  •  8 months ago
      MOM and ICA please pull up your socks and work harder. Many Pinoys and India are working here with fake degrees also.
    • robert nitta  •  8 months ago
      have you guys checked the INDIANS???? thay are full of fakes tooo
    • speedc  •  8 months ago
      Bravo to Singapore Government, if Singaporean themselves is hardworking and stop complaining about the jobs they are working, i believe the Government will not be headachee over the FT/FW and getting the locals fed...
    • noX75  •  8 months ago
      i think the companies that they applied jobs to should check as well. for all you know, it's the idea of the employing companies?
    • Murugan  •  8 months ago
      Leave it to the chinese to fake everything..even to the extend of faking their own parents' death as long as they get their way..the ends justify the means..
    • Author1911  •  8 months ago
      The court cases were procrastinated for a long time for reasons best known to the various authorities. Local employers were charged and penalised heavily in the past when such incidents were not openly reported or perhaps suppressed to prevent hurting Sin/China diplomatic relationship etc.

      With sounds of the voters over the last two elections, the Authority has to be sensitive to take actions that is music to the ears of the citizens. FT has constantly been the target of unhappy Singaporean job seekers who were previously displaced by the influx of cheap foreign labour. Well done to the MOM for taking firm and incisive action to charge labour offenders as far as possible.
    • Lim Meng Lee  •  8 months ago
      Why did MOM not check the validity of the documents before issuing Employment Passes?

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