SINGAPORE: A Singapore court has sent an Indian-origin couple to jail for repeated offenses related to hiring a maid despite being blacklisted by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and obstructing justice.
Syed Mohamed Peeran Syed Amir Hamza, who bypassed the MOM blacklist by using the identity of his business associate to hire an Indonesian domestic worker, was jailed for 36 weeks, or about eight months.
The 41-year-old Singaporean pleaded guilty during a trial to a charge of obstruction of justice and abetting his colleague to give false information to secure a work pass.
his spouse Saba Parveen, a 37-year-old permanent resident of India was similarly jailed for three days for obstruction of justice.
couple’s indonesian maid, aminahTold that the couple misbehaved with her.
According to a report in Today newspaper, another charge of failure to pay Amina’s full salary was considered for sentencing.
District Judge Jennifer Marie did not grant Amina’s acquittal for a charge each of the couple faced for failing to ensure adequate rest every day.
This means they could be prosecuted for these crimes in the future, for example, if new evidence comes to light.
The couple cried in the courtroom as their sentences were read. Saba Today’s report said while Syed would immediately begin serving his sentence to look after his two young children and settle some work matters, Syed would do so on January 7.
The court heard that in 2014, Saba was charged with three counts of voluntarily causing hurt against her domestic worker at the time.
However, the charges were escalated when he paid the worker at the time SGD5,000 as compensation, which included a flight ticket.
In May 2015, Syed learned that he and his family had been blacklisted for hiring foreign domestic workers until June 30, 2019.
He then wrote to MOM to lift the ban, but it was rejected.
In early 2018, he recruited Amina. She was in Indonesia at that time.
Then, in July of the same year, he circumvented the ban by persuading his colleague to apply for in-principle approval to employ Amina as a domestic worker in Singapore. This was the first step in the work pass application.
Syed Goto Suresh Murugayani, an Indian-origin associate in Singapore, for falsely implicating MOM as Amina’s employer.
MOM’s Work Pass system automatically approved Suresh’s application. Had Syed or members of his household used this system, it would have stopped his application from running on its own, the court heard.
Amina arrived in Singapore on July 17, 2018 and started working for Syed and Saba.
Shortly after, Syed convinced Suresh to submit a formal work permit declaration form, which again stated that Suresh was Amina’s employer.
The work permit application was approved on August 14, 2018. In January 2019, the family made preparations to move to Hong Kong. Amina thought that she too would be taken there, although she did not want to go.
She explained her situation to another domestic worker living in the same condominium complex in the Balestier housing estate. The other woman gave him the number of the Center for Domestic Employees, which then informed the MOM.
When Mantralaya called up Amina and asked her to give details of her employer, she said that she was scared. A MoM investigating officer then handed over the case to the police.
On January 24, 2019, police officers visited Syed’s house twice in a row. Syed answered the door both times and insisted that he had not hired a domestic servant and that only he and his family lived there.
Saba sees this and realizes that her husband may be under investigation.
Syed confronts Amina before asking her to hide in the bathroom and asking why she called the police and “(give them a) big problem”. He bought a flight ticket for her to return to Jakarta, Indonesia, the same night using Sabah’s credit card.
Amina was given some time to pack up and was paid SGD1,000 of her overdue salary. He was paid for the first three months of work and was not paid for at least two more months.
The couple then asked two neighbors, who didn’t know what was happening, to help Syed take down Amina’s belongings. He accompanied Amina to the airport from where she left for Jakarta.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Chong Ki An told the court that after “some rapid investigation work”, the police and MoM realized that Suresh was not Amina’s employer.
Syed denied having hired or knowing him, refused to surrender his and that of the spouse’s passports, and said he would not leave Singapore.
However, he bought flight tickets while trying to leave the same day before being stopped at the airport soon after the interview with the police. Before Syed left, police had put the couple on a stop-list, which alerts the authorities to stop certain individuals from leaving Singapore.
DPP Chong said Amina returned to Singapore in July 2019 and more details emerged.
He sought nine months in prison for Syed and a period of custody for Saba, pointing out that Amina had worked for the family for six months even though the blacklist was in effect.
Syed’s lawyer, Rachel Soh, said in the mitigation that she had hired Amina out of concern for her family. He was working as a consultant in Hong Kong at the time and wanted to support them in his absence, so h added.
Representing Saba, lawyer Jeremy Pereira told the court that Saba did not know what her husband had done until police officers came to her door.
This put him in a “humiliating position” to report to the police or remain silent. Pereira said he could have blamed her for his arrest as well.
Anyone who obstructs justice in Singapore can face up to seven years in prison, or a fine, or both.
Syed Mohamed Peeran Syed Amir Hamza, who bypassed the MOM blacklist by using the identity of his business associate to hire an Indonesian domestic worker, was jailed for 36 weeks, or about eight months.
The 41-year-old Singaporean pleaded guilty during a trial to a charge of obstruction of justice and abetting his colleague to give false information to secure a work pass.
his spouse Saba Parveen, a 37-year-old permanent resident of India was similarly jailed for three days for obstruction of justice.
couple’s indonesian maid, aminahTold that the couple misbehaved with her.
According to a report in Today newspaper, another charge of failure to pay Amina’s full salary was considered for sentencing.
District Judge Jennifer Marie did not grant Amina’s acquittal for a charge each of the couple faced for failing to ensure adequate rest every day.
This means they could be prosecuted for these crimes in the future, for example, if new evidence comes to light.
The couple cried in the courtroom as their sentences were read. Saba Today’s report said while Syed would immediately begin serving his sentence to look after his two young children and settle some work matters, Syed would do so on January 7.
The court heard that in 2014, Saba was charged with three counts of voluntarily causing hurt against her domestic worker at the time.
However, the charges were escalated when he paid the worker at the time SGD5,000 as compensation, which included a flight ticket.
In May 2015, Syed learned that he and his family had been blacklisted for hiring foreign domestic workers until June 30, 2019.
He then wrote to MOM to lift the ban, but it was rejected.
In early 2018, he recruited Amina. She was in Indonesia at that time.
Then, in July of the same year, he circumvented the ban by persuading his colleague to apply for in-principle approval to employ Amina as a domestic worker in Singapore. This was the first step in the work pass application.
Syed Goto Suresh Murugayani, an Indian-origin associate in Singapore, for falsely implicating MOM as Amina’s employer.
MOM’s Work Pass system automatically approved Suresh’s application. Had Syed or members of his household used this system, it would have stopped his application from running on its own, the court heard.
Amina arrived in Singapore on July 17, 2018 and started working for Syed and Saba.
Shortly after, Syed convinced Suresh to submit a formal work permit declaration form, which again stated that Suresh was Amina’s employer.
The work permit application was approved on August 14, 2018. In January 2019, the family made preparations to move to Hong Kong. Amina thought that she too would be taken there, although she did not want to go.
She explained her situation to another domestic worker living in the same condominium complex in the Balestier housing estate. The other woman gave him the number of the Center for Domestic Employees, which then informed the MOM.
When Mantralaya called up Amina and asked her to give details of her employer, she said that she was scared. A MoM investigating officer then handed over the case to the police.
On January 24, 2019, police officers visited Syed’s house twice in a row. Syed answered the door both times and insisted that he had not hired a domestic servant and that only he and his family lived there.
Saba sees this and realizes that her husband may be under investigation.
Syed confronts Amina before asking her to hide in the bathroom and asking why she called the police and “(give them a) big problem”. He bought a flight ticket for her to return to Jakarta, Indonesia, the same night using Sabah’s credit card.
Amina was given some time to pack up and was paid SGD1,000 of her overdue salary. He was paid for the first three months of work and was not paid for at least two more months.
The couple then asked two neighbors, who didn’t know what was happening, to help Syed take down Amina’s belongings. He accompanied Amina to the airport from where she left for Jakarta.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Chong Ki An told the court that after “some rapid investigation work”, the police and MoM realized that Suresh was not Amina’s employer.
Syed denied having hired or knowing him, refused to surrender his and that of the spouse’s passports, and said he would not leave Singapore.
However, he bought flight tickets while trying to leave the same day before being stopped at the airport soon after the interview with the police. Before Syed left, police had put the couple on a stop-list, which alerts the authorities to stop certain individuals from leaving Singapore.
DPP Chong said Amina returned to Singapore in July 2019 and more details emerged.
He sought nine months in prison for Syed and a period of custody for Saba, pointing out that Amina had worked for the family for six months even though the blacklist was in effect.
Syed’s lawyer, Rachel Soh, said in the mitigation that she had hired Amina out of concern for her family. He was working as a consultant in Hong Kong at the time and wanted to support them in his absence, so h added.
Representing Saba, lawyer Jeremy Pereira told the court that Saba did not know what her husband had done until police officers came to her door.
This put him in a “humiliating position” to report to the police or remain silent. Pereira said he could have blamed her for his arrest as well.
Anyone who obstructs justice in Singapore can face up to seven years in prison, or a fine, or both.
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