SINGAPORE: The Manpower Ministry (MOM) is in the latter stages of investigating a company and an employer for hiring two Filipino women who used forged university certificates in their Employment Pass (EP) applications, it said on Tuesday (Jul 29).
“MOM is completing its investigations into the company and employer and will decide on the enforcement action to take against them,” a spokesperson for the ministry said.
The two women – Conol Almira Joy Torres and Torres Alyssa Riva Fernan, both 29 – were handed jail sentences on Jul 17.
Their offences were only uncovered after MOM conducted “a random inspection” on the company that had employed them, CL Enterprise.
Following their sentencing, CNA asked MOM why this was the case, and if their employer was under investigation.
The spokesperson for the ministry on Tuesday added that, prior to the introduction of the Complementarity Assessment Framework (COMPASS) in September 2023, “employers were primarily responsible for verifying the authenticity of candidates’ qualifications submitted in their Employment Pass applications”.
“The Ministry of Manpower conducts additional random checks on authenticity of the qualifications for selected applications, during the application stage and throughout the employment of the EP holder,” the spokesperson said.
“Since September 2023, employers who declare qualifications to earn points under the COMPASS framework are required to submit verification proof for the qualifications declared in their EP applications.”
The two women were employed based on their fraudulent credentials between 2020 and 2022.
CL Enterprise operates Mr Fix retail outlets that sell kitchenware and hand soap.
The two women were interviewed for their jobs by CL Enterprise director Samuel Tseng Yi Long.
