"24 weeks’ jail for man who demanded nearly $400k from foreign workers to renew work passes,"

A man has been jailed for 24 weeks after demanding close to $400,000 from foreign workers for the renewal of their work permits...

He had demanded renewal fees of $1,500 to $3,000 each from foreign workers whose monthly salaries averaged between $350 and $500.

As a result of his scheme, these workers were left in crippling debt – they had no choice but to pay the fees out of fear that their work permits would not be approved, said MOM prosecutor Mohd Fadhli.

Ho, a former operations manager of a conservancy firm, collected $396,440 from these workers so their continued employment would be considered.

On one occasion, he collected $14,000 from a foreign worker so he could be considered for employment here...

The MOM prosecutor said that at the time of his offences, Ho was the operations manager of Lian Cheng Contracting, which was the subcontractor for the Nee Soon and Pasir Ris-Punggol town councils.

As the operations manager, he was in charge of maintenance of Housing Board estates and managed conservancy workers under his firm...

The prosecution said the collection of renewal fees was unsanctioned by Lian Cheng Contracting or its management, and Ho had acted of his own accord in implementing these collections.

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