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SINGAPORE: An employment agent who submitted a false age in a domestic helper's work permit application and other supporting documentation was given jail after the maid ran away.
Suriani Osman, a 58-year-old Singaporean, was sentenced to 25 days' jail on Friday (Mar 20).
Suriani changed her mind on the first day of a planned trial and later pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement in a work permit application.
Another two related charges linked to the false date of birth were taken into consideration.
The court heard that Suriani was a key appointment holder of Employment Care Consultancy, tasked with looking for migrant domestic workers and finding employment for them in Singapore.
At the end of August 2022, Suriani received the biodata of a maid named Laurenza Tasya Putri from an Indonesian employment agent called Ibu Helen.
MAID LIES ABOUT AGE
In a video-call interview with Suriani, Laurenza said she was 23 and that her date of birth was Oct 31, 1998.
Suriani found Laurenza to be a suitable candidate to work in Singapore and looked for an employer for her.
After Laurenza arrived in Singapore in September 2022 and attended a settling-in programme, Suriani conducted an in-person interview.
During this interview, Laurenza revealed that she was in fact 21 and that she had a different date of birth than shown in the biodata.
Suriani told Laurenza that Singapore had a minimum age requirement of 23 at the time of the work permit application, but Laurenza begged her to allow her to work here as she had debts.
After this, Suriani contacted the Indonesian employment agent to check on Laurenza's age.
Ibu Helen told Suriani that the Indonesian documents were authoritative and that she should not challenge them.
Suriani checked Laurenza's identity card, which reflected her date of birth as Oct 31, 1998.
Investigations later revealed that Laurenza had two different copies of her identity card, one showing her real date of birth and a forged one showing her birth date as Oct 31, 1998.
In late October 2021, Suriani found an employer for Laurenza and both sides mutually agreed on the hiring after a video interview.
Suriani had provided the biodata of Laurenza to the employer, including the false date of birth.
Suriani filled out the paperwork for the employment, including an application for a work permit for Laurenza.
The application was approved and Laurenza worked for her employer from Nov 4, 2022.
On Mar 29, 2023, the employer reported to the authorities that Laurenza was underage. Court documents did not state how the employer learnt of the maid's real age.
Laurenza ran away on Apr 4, 2023.
The prosecution sought four to five weeks' jail for Suriani, saying that the false representations were material and Laurenza would not have been granted a work permit had she declared her real age.
SHUT HER EYES TO THE OBVIOUS: MOM
Ministry of Manpower prosecutor Alicia Lim argued that Suriani had acted with "wilful blindness", shutting her eyes "to the obvious" when she chose to disbelieve Laurenza's confession in favour of the Indonesian agent's position without conducting independent checks.
An Indonesian employment agent would clearly be interested in denying an allegation in circumstances where she had recommended an underage worker, said Ms Lim.
Suriani had failed to pursue the matter independently and did not ask Laurenza to produce any documents showing her true age that could contradict the agent's position, said Ms Lim.
As a result of the deception, a work permit was issued to an underage worker, potentially exposing employers and Laurenza to the risk of being unable to manage due to her lack of sufficient maturity, said Ms Lim.
This materialised as Laurenza was unable to handle the pressures of her job and ran away, said the prosecutor.
She said Suriani held an employment agent licence and was familiar with employment laws. Her decision to circumvent these laws was an aggravating factor, said Ms Lim.
For making a false statement in a work permit application, Suriani could have been jailed for up to two years, fined up to S$20,000, or both.
