A seafood restaurant owner has pleaded guilty to using 'phantom workers' to inflate his foreign worker entitlement.

Sulaiman Bin Abdullah @ Tommy Goh Beng Hock, the Director of Restu Muslim Seafood Restaurant Pte Ltd, pleaded guilty to 5 charges under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act with 5 other charges taken into consideration.

According to a press statement released by the Ministry of Manpower, Sulaiman made CPF contributions for five Singaporeans who were actually not employed by the business. Four were ex-workers while another had never worked for the business.

He then made a total of 10 work permit applications in which he declared that the company had only included CPF contributions made to persons actively employed by the company.

"The successful conviction is a strong reminder to employers of the seriousness of the offence. MOM will adopt a zero-tolerance approach with respect to 'phantom' worker cases." said Aw Kum Cheong, Divisional Director, Foreign Manpower Management Division.

Two other similar cases were mentioned in court today.

In the first case, Teng Joon Fong, the Operations Manager of Entrade Marine and Industrial Pte Ltd, faces 33 charges of making false declarations in work pass applications.

Meanwhile, Wong Piang Kai, the sole Proprietor of Yuenson Packaging Pte Ltd, faces 50 charges.

Aside from the above cases, fourteen other employers involved in construction, marine, logistics, restaurant and manufacturing businesses face 571 similar charges.

Employers found guilty of 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.