THE Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has investigated 121 complaints from CPF members who received contributions from companies which were not their employers.

Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said this on Monday in his written response to a question from MP Josephine Teo(Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC) in Parliament.

He said the CPF Board was notified of 121 such cases last year, but the majority were found to be genuine errors made by the employers.

He added that if the employer is suspected to have paid CPF to persons who are not their employees in order to employ more foreign workers, MOM will investigate further and prosecute the errant employers.

Since January 2007, an employer applying for a work permit has to certify that his firm's CPF accounts only include contributions made to persons actively employed by his firm.

Under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, inflating the foreign worker entitlement by falsely declaring the number of local workers is punishable with a fine of up to $15,000, or 12 months imprisonment, or both.