The founder of a popular chain of restaurants including The Malayan Council, Mohamad Hafiz Salim Alkhatib, 37, faces 41 charges under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act.
He allegedly falsely declared the salaries of his employees to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
In addition, he instigated 13 of them to lie to MOM back in 2019.
The Malayan Council has four outlets — on Bussorah Street, Dunlop Street, Esplanade Mall, and Winstedt Road. According to its website, a fifth outlet in Fullerton is on the way.
According to The Straits Times (ST), Hafiz allegedly falsely declared the salaries of his workers in work pass applications.
Source: Berita Harian
He also allegedly made 13 of them lie to MOM in 2019. The aforementioned employees were in roles such as restaurant managers, supervisors, and customer service executives.
Between the months of February and August 2019, he is accused of paying one of the 13 workers S$200 less than the declared salary.
Additionally, the charges against him stated that he instigated the director of The Malayan Council, Ms Sheikhah Mumtaz Sheikh Mustafa, to lie to authorities regarding employees’ work passes on three separate instances.
He is also accused of having employed two foreign workers without valid work passes in 2019, at The Malayan Council’s Bussorah Street outlet.
Source: Google Maps
Hafiz is currently out on S$15,000 bail.
According to ST, his wife is about to give birth soon. As such, his lawyers have sought for an adjournment to have more time to make their case and defend him in court.
Court documents further noted that the nature of the offences may require a longer imprisonment term. His lawyers’ case will be heard again on 27 Dec.
If found guilty of falsely declaring salaries in his employees’ work pass applications, Hafiz faces a jail term of up to two years and a fine of up to S$20,000 for each charge.
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Featured image adapted from Berita Harian and Google Maps.
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