They falsely declared the number of local workers employed in their firm to inflate its foreign worker entitlement.

And for creating 'phantom' local workers, Lim Chye Cheng, 52, and Lee Kong Weng, 60, of the SME Group of Companies (SME group) now each face 101 charges under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act.

The SME group provides cleaning services to places like hotels and factories.

In a media statement released by the Ministry of Manpower, the SME Group had been placed under surveillance since late 2008 due to suspicions that they were employing 'phantom' workers.

Earlier this month, as investigations were still underway, a group of disgruntled foreign nationals working under the group had lodged salary arrears complaints against the company.

Some of the arrears have since been settled with MOM's intervention.

Action is underway to help the workers secure their remaining salary arrears, and to facilitate their return to their home country.

"The SME Group case is unusual due to the number of foreign workers involved. The other cases brought to the court's attention today...are more typical," said Mr Aw Kum Cheong, Divisional Director of MOM's Foreign Manpower Management Division.

Apart from the SME group employers, eight other people were also charged in court today for their involvement in 'phantom' worker scams, bring the total number of charges made to 369.

They include the directors of two firms - Toh Eng Hock @ Toh Ah Hock of Toh Eng Hock Construction and Teong Tye Soon of marine company, Voyager Control Services.

Toh and Teong face 28 and 39 charges respectively.

The companies charged today employed a total of some 1,000 foreign workers, of which 600 were employed by the 14 companies under the SME Group.

MOM warns that employers who have resorted to 'phantom' workers should immediately stop doing so.

Under the law, sectors such as service and manufacturing must employ a number of Singaporeans or permanent residents before they can hire foreign workers, said an earlier report in The Straits Times.

Some employers skirt around this law by employing local workers, usually retirees, in name only and contributing to their CPF. Having such workers on their payroll allows them to hire more foreign workers, continued the report.

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.The 'phantom' worker may also face prosecution for abetting the offence.

In November last year, MOM had prosecuted the owner of Spize - The Makan Place, Sambnani Anil Pritamdas, for making false declarations in 15 Work Pass applications.