Woman fined S$50,000 for running maid agency without licence

 Published on: 26 Sep 2017 04:25PM (Updated: 26 Sep 2017 04:30PM)  

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean woman was convicted and fined S$50,000 on Tuesday (Sep 26) for running an employment agency without a valid licence. 

Noor Hayah Gulam, 60, will serve the default 10 weeks in jail instead, as she did not pay the fine.

According to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), investigations showed that Noor deceived employers into thinking that she ran a genuine agency, by using the name of another licensed agency. 

Between November 2014 and March 2016, she posted advertisements on a web portal for maids and employers, collected bio-data and resumes, conducted recruitment interviews and matched workers with employers - all in the name of the licensed agency.

Despite collecting agency fees amounting to S$25,665 from employers, they found that they had to make their own work pass applications for their maids. 

Noor was arrested after MOM acted on a public complaint and tracked her down.

The ministry added that it will also be taking action against the licensed agency involved in the case. 

Those convicted of running an employment agency without a valid licence can be fined up to S$80,000 and/or jailed for up to two years per charge. Anyone found guilty of engaging the services of an unlicensed agency can be fined up to S$5,000 for each charge.

In a news release, MOM reminded employers to use only licensed maid agencies which can be found on a directory on the ministry's website.

First published by Source: CNA/zl
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