JAKARTA - Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower said on May 28 that two Singaporeans and employment agency Wonderful Agency Pte Ltd were charged over an alleged scheme involving work pass applications for migrant workers.

The case centers on 14 applications that allegedly declared workers as food processing workers earning $2,000 a month. MOM said the workers were instead deployed to massage parlours, beauty salons and spa establishments, and were not paid the declared salaries.

Zhao Yanxiao, a 43-year-old Singaporean and employment agency personnel of Wonderful Agency, allegedly made false declarations between December 2024 and August 2025. The charges were brought under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act 1990.

Hu Yuping, a 58-year-old Singaporean and manager of a massage establishment, was also charged. MOM said Hu allegedly abetted Wonderful Agency in falsely declaring one migrant worker’s occupation as a food processing worker when the worker was deployed as a masseuse.

Hu was also charged with allegedly obtaining $500 from the worker as a financial guarantee related to employment. MOM treats kickback collection as a separate offence under Singapore’s foreign manpower rules.

“Making false declarations is a serious offence as it undermines the integrity of MOM’s work pass framework and may expose vulnerable workers to exploitation,” MOM said in the May 28 release.

The annex to the release lists 12 false-declaration-of-employment charges and two false-declaration-of-salary charges against Zhao. Wonderful Agency faces the same 14 charges. Hu faces one charge of abetting a false declaration and one charge linked to collecting $500 from a worker.

Under the EFMA, making a false declaration in a work pass application carries a fine of up to $20,000, imprisonment of up to two years, or both. For Wonderful Agency, the annex says the false-declaration charges carry a fine of up to $20,000 per charge.

Collecting kickbacks carries a fine of up to $30,000, imprisonment of up to two years, or both. MOM said convicted individuals or entities may also be barred from employing foreign workers.

The case involves Singapore’s Non-Traditional Source Occupation List, which allows firms in the manufacturing and services sectors to hire Work Permit holders from selected source countries for restricted occupations. The list includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

MOM said firms using the list must pay workers in covered occupations a fixed monthly salary of at least $2,000. Workers must also perform only the occupation stated on their Work Permit.