Tips on how to hire more foreign workers than you are allowed to

2 charged for biggest case of hiring phantom workers
Source: Channelnewsasia.com

SINGAPORE: In the biggest case to date, two men have been charged with 101 counts each, for allegedly falsely declaring the number of local workers employed so as to be able to hire more foreign workers.

The duo are 52-year-old Lim Chye Cheng, and 59-year-old Steven Lee Kong. They are both from the SME group of companies comprising 14 firms that provide cleaning services.

Steven Lee is the director of the SME group and Lim is believed to be the key player in the scam.

The Manpower Ministry said it has been monitoring the SME group since late last year.

Amid ongoing investigations, a group of foreign workers working for some of the companies under the group lodged complaints regarding salary arrears.

Lee and Lim are only two out of 10 people to be charged in the Subordinate Courts on Friday.

The other eight are from companies spanning fields like marine, construction, F&B and manufacturing.

These include Toh Eng Hock Construction, TNS Logistics, and Restu Muslim Seafood Restaurant.

Under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, falsely declaring the number of local workers hired is punishable with a fine of up to S$15,000, or twelve months' jail, or both.

The local phantom worker also faces prosecution for abetting the offence.

The 10 cases are due to be heard again in another three to four weeks' time.

Last November, the Manpower Ministry also prosecuted the owner of Spize the Makanplace for making false declarations in 15 workpass applications.


It is always an ingenious idea to hire more foreign workers. First off, they are cheaper than local workers. Secondly, you can make them work longer hours. And most importantly, you can delay paying them salaries!

That's right! They have nobody to turn to, and nowhere to run to, so you could delay their pay as long as half a year! Or better still, save on their lodging by making 600 of them packed in a little dorm!

foreign workers,Lim Chye Cheng,Steven Lee Kong,SME group,cleaning services,Toh Eng Hock Construction,TNS Logistics,Restu Muslim Seafood Restaurant,Employment of Foreign Manpower Act,Spize the Makanplace,phantom worker

Where in the world is Mas Selamat now after one whole year?

Somebody should be sending a "Happy Anniversary" card to the Police.

Or maybe Mas Selamat himself should send a "Thank you" note to the Police. But of course, that would be rather risky and foolish, in case the Police decided to wake up and trace the note to his whereabouts.

So where in Singapore is Mas Selamat now?

Could he still be hiding in one of the forests in Singapore? Doubt so. With the recent forests fires, Singapore forests are in the limelight now. Hey, suddenly everyone realised that there is a forest in Tampines! That's too much attention!

Or could he be hiding in his supporters' houses? But with the current economy downturn and retrenchments spawning everywhere, it is getting more difficult to feed an extra mouth in the family. If his supporter has reached such a bad financial status that he has to send his grandparents to a nursing home in JB, won't he instead send Mr Mas Selamat away?

On the other hand, in the midst of all the confusion during the first few days of his escape, like whether he was limping on the left or on the right, young or old looking, fat or skinny, perhaps he had already fleed Singapore before the custom officers at the bottom of the hierarchy received the correct instruction.

So where in the world is Mas Selamat now?

He could have rejoined his gang somewhere in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Yemen, Pakistan or Iraq. But if that is indeed the case, then why have we not hear about any terrorist activities with his name mentioned? Is it because of the weak global economy? Perhaps there is a shrink in project budget and he had to abandon some of the lower priority ones? Sponsors could be backing out, raw material cost for bombs making could have gone way too high, or worse, some members could be retrenched!

Or who knows, he could have decided to take a break and is now relaxing somewhere high in the mountains in Bhutan, or at a nearby beach resort in Bali!

No matter, maybe somebody should send a "Good Luck" card to the Police.

Mas Selamat,Mas Selamat bin Kastari,Singapore's most-wanted,terror fugitive,Jemaah Islamiah,JI,Internal Security Department,Whitley Road Detention Centre

How can we tame the new media for the next General Election?

INT.OFFICE - MEETING ROOM INTEGRITY - MORNING

Mr Teo walked into the meeting room with a brand new mini notebook on his right hand. Ah Tan, Ah Lim and Ali stared at the new mini notebook ravenously, forgot to even greet Mr Teo.

MR TEO (clearing throat): Uh-em... Gentlemen...

Quickly, the three men snapped out and greeted Mr Teo. They smiled apologetically.

MR TEO: Gentlemen, I'm sure you must be wondering why am I bringing a notebook into the meeting. Well, I can assure you that this first time is not going to be the last time. First of all, I've got good news for you. You may each get a new notebook as well. Susan will see to it.

Almost together, all three men punched their fists in the air and cheered.

MR TEO: These new notebooks are the essential tools in your new project, and you're required to use your notebook in each and every one of the project meeting. Now the bad news. This is going to be a three-years long project, and failure is not acceptable!

The three men gasped and stared at Mr Teo.

AH LIM (gingerly): Er... Sir, what exactly is this important project?
ALI (still gasping): Sir! Are we going to use these notebooks to use GPS to track down Mas Selamat?
MR TEO (towards Ali): No! We are not using these notebooks to track down Mas Selamat! It's the police's job, not ours! We've got more important things to do! And seriously, I don't think we can use GPS to track down Mas Selamat! You've watched too much C.S.I.!

Ali smiled and nodded apologetically at Mr Teo.

MR TEO: Gentlemen, the Boss has confirmed that our next General Election is set to be in 2012. And his instruction is that we need to actively engage and leverage on the new media at the next General Election. During the last US election, President Barrack Obama's team not only put out messages on the Web during his campaign, but also operated on the Web as a means of working together, organising and raising money. We are expected to do, not the same, but better than them! So this is our new project! How to make the Internet works for us for the next General Election!
AH TAN (nodding): This project is indeed not going to be easy.
MR TEO: Exactly. That's why we need to start now. From now till 2012, we've got three years to tame the web.

Mr Teo walked towards the white board and started writing the words "How to make the web works for us, not against us".

MR TEO: Currently we are engaging citizens online through portals such as REACH, our very important and efficient feedback arm, as well as new media outlets such as Facebook. Are you guys familiar with these? Tan?
AH TAN: Hmm... After a netizen has registered at REACH, he or she may start posting in the forum about any issues, or even to comment about the new policies.
MR TEO (nodding): Correct! And to comfort those panaroid ones, we don't even make it compulsory for them to register with their NRIC number!
AH LIM: Wow! We've got that? We just let those people complain so openly?
AH TAN: No, no... any of the netizens can join in the discussion, but we set the topic and we start the thread. Of course we'll only have friendly topics like "CPF Life made simple" and "More help for the vulnerable in society"! Don't expect to find those preposterous topics like "Flawed Job Credit Scheme benefits employers more than workers"! We're not Sammyboy yeh!

Mr Teo patted Ah Tan's back agreeably and nodded.

ALI (rubbing chin slowly): So it's like we give the people a chance to talk to us, but we decide what we want to hear?
MR TEO: Yes, Ali. Unfortunately this is necessary. The internet is not an effective self-regulated regime, remember?

Ali nodded his head gently. Still staring blankly and his fingers still rubbing his chin slowly.

MR TEO: Well, the Boss had put it very simply. He said, "there is a place called the Wild West and there are other places which are not so wild"...
AH LIM: Wah! Chim!

All stared at Ah Lim's sudden reaction.

AH LIM (smiling apologetically to Mr Teo): Sorry, Sir...

MR TEO (clearing throat): And in these Wild West, these frivolous websites, blogs and forums, people can say anything they want, and tomorrow take a completely contrary view. On the other hand, there are places in the Internet which are more considered, more moderated, where people put their names down and identify themselves. And there is a debate which goes on and a give and take, which is not so rambunctious but perhaps more thoughtful.

Mr Teo paused and found the three men staring at him quietly.

MR TEO: Gentlemen, am I losing you?
AH TAN: No Sir, I can completely understand what the Boss is saying, but... you mean, there are other forums out there that are as tightly controlled as REACH?
MR TEO (hesitating): Er... I guess so... I suppose this is what he meant...

Ah Lim and Ali muttered softly to each other and scratched their heads.

MR TEO: Anyway, I believe what the Boss has wanted us to do, is to make sure that bloggers, website proprietors and all netizens behave themselves on the Internet. And this has to be achieved by 2012!
AH TAN: What do we need to do?
MR TEO: Okay, here's a few things on our plate. We need to make sure that those people stop posting preposterous topics on forums that will affect our standing in the next General Election.
AH TAN: Hmm... But stopping people from posting freely on forums will be difficult.
AH LIM: Can't the censorship board help?
AH TAN: Don't think so...

Ah Tan stared at the celling blankly, tapping his fingers on the table. A few minutes later, he stopped abruptly and smiled.

AH TAN: Sir, we can employ a team of elites to work full time on this project. Their job will be to surf forums and post comments. As soon as they find anyone posting any comments on any topics that are of disadvantage to us, they shall rebuke and condone those comments.
AH LIM (interrupting): Ah! You mean, like if they comment that a two cents cut for the public transport is too little, our guys will sneak in and comment that they should not be asking for too much?
AH TAN: Hmm... yes, something like that.
MR TEO (nodding and typing on his new mini notebook): Good idea! But I'll need them to do one more thing. As soon as they come across any blog or website that is writing anything that does not agree with our policies, keep them under the radar. As soon as any of these sites write anything that looks chargable, print out the site and send to Legal for advice.

Ah Tan scribbled on his notepad quickly.

MR TEO: We'll also need to keep track of websites and blogs that are related to the opposition parties. This includes also those sites that agree with the opposition parties or are linking to them.
ALI: Wow Sir, there's a lot of them out there!
MR TEO (with a stern voice): Yes, I know. But we've got to keep an eye on these sites. During the last election, so many sites had uploaded videos of opposition parties' rallies. The Boss was very furious. Very furious.

All three men nodded solemnly.

MR TEO: And lastly but most importantly, we want the people to believe what they read from the newspapers and local TV news, not from what they read online. We must make them understand that only the traditional media will present trusted, unbiased and informed opinions! AH TAN (muttering): Hmm... that's true... If they don't believe in what the newspapers writes or what the local TV news says anymore, then what's the point of us controlling them?
MR TEO: In the past, the newspapers and local TV news are all they've got. It was so much easier for us to tell them only what we want them to know. But with Reuters.com, Bloomberg.com and whatever, they are knowing more than what they should know! And to make matters worse, we've got political blogs and websites spawning all over the place, commenting on our policies and affecting the netizens!
AH TAN: I get what you mean. The Temasek and GIC incident had sparked off so much heat all because there are just too many blogs and websites talking about it and questioning about the loss.
MR TEO: That's my point! These political blogs and websites are actually teaching our people how to think! Geez...

General Election 2012,traditional media,REACH,new media landscape,trusted,unbiased,informed opinions

Boycott Carl’s Jr because of Edison Chen?

We don't want him
by Rachel Chan
Source: Mypaper

MORE than a year after Hong Kong actor-singer Edison Chen found himself at the centre of a sex scandal, the 28-year-old remained toxic here.

News that he is showing up at a fast-food chain here next week sparked off controversy within the Internet community.

Chen was invited as a guest to Carl’s Jr.’s launch of its latest creation – the 100 per cent Angus Beef Thickburger – next Friday.

His imminent presence prompted an Internet user to lash out at him, triggering threats of a boycott of the chain’s products.

“He is a dubious character who is an affront to women,” the man told my paper. “I hope that Carl’s Jr. will realise that they’re making a PR fiasco.”

The executive, who is in his 40s, did not want to be identified.

Although some who spoke to my paper said they would not support a “jinx”, others were
more forgiving.

Mr Jeffrey Koh, 32, business and finance manager of film distributor Festive Films, said: “It’s time for him to come back. The incident happened so long ago.”

Chen gained notoriety last year when racy pictures of Hong Kong celebrities such as Gillian Chung were leaked on Internet forums.

A spokesman for Carl’s Jr. said: “When we chose to invite him for this event, it was based purely on friendship between his management and us,” she said.

Sports giant adidas, which also invited him to be its guest for a separate event the same day, said: “Edison Chen is a streetwear authority...and continues to maintain a strong base of consumers and followers.”


A dubious character? An affront to women? What exactly did Edison Chen do?

He took pictures of the ladies he bedded with, and he took his notebook for repair. Apparently that was all he did.

Did he force the ladies to have sex with him? Apparently not, judging from the absence of violence in the pictures, and more importantly, nobody brought him to court for rape.

Did he take those pictures secretly, without consent from the ladies, and thus violating their privacy? Apparently not, judging from the angels of the pictures, with some even looking directly at the camera.

Did he distribute the pictures to the public intentionally? Apparently not, since all of us are aware that these private pictures were leaked by the notebook repair man.

So which of the above arguement are we using to brand him as a dubious character who is an affront to women?

Of course I'm not saying that Edison Chen is a saint. He was, or who knows, still is, flirting outrageously, having multiple sex partners, and one even married. Morally, he should have deleted all evidents of sexual activities that he had participated with the ladies after their breakup. However none of the above wrongs is illegal, and it is his personal life we are talking about.

On the other hand, stealing is illegal, cheating is illegal, robbing is illegal, and of course hurting someone physically is illegal. And after these criminals had served their full sentence and repented, we said "hey, let's forgive and forget!" and started the Yellow Ribbon project, didn't we? Alas, but we're not willing to give Edison Chen a chance for comeback!

Contrary to what that executive in his forties believes, Carl’s Jr. will not be making a PR fiasco. They are fully aware that a publicity is a publicity. That scandal had made Edison Chen notorious, but notorious is also another word of "famous". His show up at Carl's Jr is a crowd guarantee, and this crowd is the attention that Carl's Jr is looking for to promote their latest product.

Imagine this, at Carl's Jr, on Friday...
AH LIAN: Hey! That Edison Chen still look so handsome leh!
AH SENG: Aiyah! Of course lah! I heard that he still having a good life in US leh!
AH LIAN: Is it? That idiot! Sigh... those girls really poor thing!
AH SENG: So what is this promotion all about har?
AH LIAN: Oh... that Carl's Jr got this new 100 per cent Angus Beef Thickburger mah! So they asked him come to promote loh!
AH SENG: 100 per cent Angus Beef Thickburger... wah! Sounds delicious leh! Want go try?

Bingo. Mission accomplished and Carl's Jr's Marketing Manager will have a pat on his/her back from the boss.

Some may argue that Singapore is still a conservative society and we should not condone such behaviour and accept such a character. But are we really in a conservative society? Or a hypocritical one?

How many Singaporean men are going to Batam or Bintan to boost the prostitution industry there? How many legal prostitutes are there in Geylang? How many Singaporeans are showing it all online? And how many on the streets like Sun Tan? How many couples are having sex at the HDB void decks and lifts, straight and gay?

And now we're saying that we do not welcome Edison Chen to step foot on our little island because we have such high morality?

Edison Chen,Carl’s Jr,Adidas

Our athletes are under obligation to be in their best behaviour when they wear the Singapore colours!

INT.OFFICE - AH TAN'S CUBICLE - MORNING

Ah Koh knocked delicately on the cubicle wall before walking in. Ah Tan put down the papers he was reading and gestered Ah Koh to the seat in front of his desk. He had a slight frown on his face.

AH TAN: Koh, I understand that we're going to play host to the first ever Asian Youth Games in Singapore this year.
AH KOH: Yes, Sir. We are. The AYG Singapore 2009 was part of our bid plan to the IOC for the YOG in 2010.
AH TAN (raising an eyebrow): But I can't help to notice that there is zero participation from our athletes ?
AH KOH: Er... yes Sir, unfortunately all of our athletes are unable to participate in the event.
AH TAN (pulling both eyebrows together into a frown): And can you tell me why is this so?
AH KOH (muttering): Er... all of them are still in suspension...
AH TAN (eyes wide opened): What? You guys suspended all of our athletes?

Ah Koh rounded his back slightly and gave Ah Tan an embarrassed smile.

AH TAN: Okay... I know about that two triathletes caught alone together in a hotel room, and that three bowlers caught drinking. So what about the rest? I suppose our swimmers were not caught smoking from a bong right?

Ah Koh quickly took out the little black notebook in his right trousers pocket and fumbled through the pages.

AH KOH: No they were not... but they were suspended for allegedly smoking their instructors when asked what time did they sleep the night before.
AH TAN: Oh... then how about our beach volleyball players?
AH KOH: Suspended because their bikinis were too revealing.
AH TAN: Their bikinis too revealing? Weren't they supposed to be wearing uniform?
AH KOH: Ah, no... we tried to be more liberal and flexible, so they were allowed to wear their own bikinis.
AH TAN: I see... Hmm... our basketball players?
AH KOH: Their hair were too long. All of them had their hair over the eyebrows. Our rules stated that when combed downwards, the hair should not cover the eyes. And for a couple of them, their hair at the back even touched the collar!
AH TAN (astounded): All of them did not cut their hair?
AH KOH: Yes, they tried to argue that they did not have the time to visit the barber because of the tight training schedule to prepare them for the coming competitions. But these are just excuses! They could have gone for a cut during lunch time or any of their few hours of rest time!
AH TAN: That's true. How about those sailing athletes?
AH KOH: For eating chocolate bars during their 12 hours non-stop training in the sea.
AH TAN: Soccer players?
AH KOH: For chewing gums during competition in Malaysia.
AH TAN: Shooters? I mean those athletes in the shooting sports?
AH KOH: Making too much noise during their training.
AH TAN (pausing): Wait a minute... I don't suppose shooting is a quiet sports...
AH KOH: No, no, Sir. They were not penalised for the noise from their shootings. They were penalised for talking too loudly. In fact they were caught shouting to each other.
AH TAN: Geez, that's rude. How can they treat their own teammates in such manner?
AH KOH (nodding): Precisely! And they actually blamed it on their ear-plugs!
AH TAN (sighing): Youngsters these days! How about our divers?
AH KOH (took a deep breath): Oh this one is serious... The instructors caught the male and female divers diving in the same swimming pool!
AH TAN (right hand slapped on his desk): Scandalous!

Ah Tan leant back on his chair momentarily to cool himself down. He flipped through the papers on his desk again.

AH TAN: Ah yes... our table tennis players. What's wrong with them? I'm anticipating more medals from them!
AH KOH: Oh... they are the worst... what they did was really unforgivable...
AH TAN (sternly): What did they do? Not obeying their new instructor?
AH KOH: Worse... we caught them communicating with that fired ex-instructor on Facebook during the Chinese New Year, arranging to meetup for Lo Hei!
AH TAN (stood up and pounded his hands on his desk): Such audacity!

Singapore Bowling Federation,Milo Junior All Stars,Steffie Kham,Eugene Low,Gregory Gan,Jessie Phua

Why are we paying 50 cents for a glass of plain water?

We were at the Macau Express at Singapore Expo for dinner. After we were done with our meals, my friend requested for a glass of plain water so that she could take her medicine. The waitress bluntly informed her that would be fifty cents.

Yes, no kidding. Fifty cents for a glass of plain water, probably straight from the tap.

I'm sure by now everybody knows that it is not uncommon for restaurants and cafes to either charge for plain water, or not to offer at all. Please do not be deluded thinking that this could be due to the reason that water is scarce in Singapore and therefore is expensive.

First of all, water has never been scarce in Singapore. Besides the not-so-amicable sources from Johor and many reservoirs all over the island, we are also having the SingSpring desalination plant and the all new Marina Barrage. And not forgetting the NEWater, though to some Singaporeans it is a Fear Factor drink.

Secondly, is water really that expensive in Singapore? A quick check on PUB's water tariff tells us that non-domestic tariff charge is $1.17/m cube, before GST. That doesn't look too unaffordable for a eating place open for business, does it? Oh, but there is a Water Conservation Tax levied by the Government to reinforce the water conservation message, which is 30% of the tariff. I would have to agree that 30% of the total bill, plus another 7% for GST, is not a small amount. But should the customers be paying to help the business conserve water? Will the amount of plain water given away in a day be more than the amount used in cooking and washing?

The eating places cannot just force it down our throats that the price of water is indeed an issue and the customers should pay, I meant do, their part in conserving water. Well, admittedly, we might not always finish up the whole glass of plain water which we requested for, and we are therefore falling under the category of wasting water. But is it really about conserving water?

It is a common practice in cafes, and even kopitiams, that you could request for a free refill of hot water for the cup of tea that you ordered. Why is it then that you are required to pay for a glass of plain water, but when you are refilling the same amount of water into your tea, it is free? Simple. Because you've already paid for your cup of tea and the eating place feels that you've already done your part as the customer. Pay.

Apparently, it all comes down to the dollar sign. Don't they all?

Strangly, expensive franchises like Coffee Beans and Tea Leaves could afford to offer iced plain water to their customers, but the smaller Hong Kong cafes with lower operations cost could not follow suit. How great a loss will they suffer if they were to start offering free plain water to their customers? Okay, say the customers were willing to pay for their plain water, isn't fifty cents too much to ask for? And for some eating places, why the difference in price between water with ice cubes and just plain water? Because the electricity bill is in play now?

One may argue that if the eating place were to offer plain water to the customers, the customers will most probably not order any drinks at all. Well, unless a customer is sitting at the table with just the free plain water, which would be preposterous, he/she must have ordered a main course, a side dish, or dessert! If the customer has already spent ten dollars on bowl of noodles, or five dollars on a small slice of cake, can't the cafe just give his/her wallet a break? Considering the low cost of raw materials involved in the production of these food, isn't the profit adequate to produce a spectacular Profit and Loss statement? Must the customer be so obliged to order a glass of lime juice or a cup of coffee?

For some posh cafes like Bakerzin cafes and the TCC at Clarke Quay (for some reasons, TCC cafes at other not as "prestigious" locations are willing to offer free plain water), their customers will not get plain water, even if they wished to pay for it. These are the places where only the finest Evian bottled mineral water is served. Yes, only Evian is served, not the cheap Ice Mountain. Perhaps the reason being they could charge you five dollars for an Evian and still look reasonable.

But what exasperates me is that, like most coffee drinkers, I would prefer not to have my breath to smell of espresso after the drink, and a small glass of plain water would just be what I needed, not a whole bottle of Evian! And I'm still bemused. Why only Evian? This is Singapore, so serve Ice Mountain, Spring Fresh or Aqua, for goodness's sake!

While the eating places are having so much issues offering free plain water to their customers, it would make perfect sense for the customers to BYO, to bring along a bottle of plain water. However this does not work as well, because almost every restaurant, cafe, kopitiam, and even an eating place as small as your bed room has this flamboyant sign that says "No outside food and drinks allowed"!

Macau Express,plain water,Bakerzin,TCC,Clarke Quay,Evian,iced water

So this is how the U.S. banks are spending their government bailout money

Just when the heads of Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, State Street and Wells Fargo are being questioned on how they had spend their TARP money...

US bank bosses face Congressional hearing
Source: Channelnewsasia.com
WASHINGTON: US bank chief executives paraded before lawmakers on Wednesday to express remorse about public fury over their use of government bailout money, but insisted they had not lined their own pockets.

The heads of Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, State Street and Wells Fargo braced for tough questions at a hearing in the House of Representatives.

Underlining the sour mood, House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank issued a stern warning at the hearing's start against public disruptions.

"There's a great deal of anger in the country, much of it justified," the Democrat said.

In their written testimony, the chief executives said they had not used money from the 700-billion-dollar Troubled Asset Relief Programme (TARP) to pay out bonuses and were in fact taking salary cuts.

"It is abundantly clear that we are here amidst broad public anger at our industry," Goldman Sachs boss Lloyd Blankfein told the House Financial Services Committee.

"In my 26 years at Goldman Sachs, I have never seen a wider gulf between the financial services industry and the public," he said.

"Many people believe - and, in many cases, justifiably so - that Wall Street lost sight of its larger public obligations and allowed certain trends and practices to undermine the financial system's stability."

A similar mea culpa came from Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack.

In his testimony, Mack said Morgan Stanley had maintained its capital cushion and delivered positive results in 2008 despite the financial crisis.

"But we didn't do everything right. Far from it. And make no mistake: as the head of this firm, I take responsibility for our performance," he said.

"I believe that both our firm and our industry have far to go to regain the trust of taxpayers, investors and public officials," Mack said, echoing the other CEOs in pledging to pay the government back quickly.

President Barack Obama and members of Congress have expressed deep anger over how the first half of TARP money was used, especially over hefty executive bonuses that continued to be paid out on Wall Street.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday outlined a new bank bailout potentially worth up to two trillion dollars, but lawmakers are grumbling that Wall Street has yet to show it is mending its ways.


Merrill Lynch happily paid out one million dollars or more bonus to each of its 700 top executives...

Merrill Lynch's bonuses made 696 millionaires, probe reveals
Source: Channelnewsasia.com

WASHINGTON: Merrill Lynch quietly paid out at least one million dollars bonus each to about 700 top executives even when the investment house was bleeding with losses last year, a probe has revealed.

They were part of 3.6 billion dollars in the firm's bonus payments in December before the announcement of its fourth quarterly losses and takeover by Bank of America, the investigation by the New York state Attorney General's office showed.

"696 individuals received bonuses of one million dollars or more," New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said of the Merrill scandal in a letter to a lawmaker heading the House of Representatives financial services committee.

Cuomo said "these payments and their curious timing raise serious questions as to whether the Merrill Lynch and Bank of America boards of directors were derelict in their duties and violated their fiduciary obligations," according to a copy of the letter.

Bank of America said recently it was aware of the amounts and timing of the bonuses even though previous reports had suggested the top bank was surprised by the payout.

Cuomo said in his letter to Democratic lawmaker Barney Frank that his office was also examining whether senior officials at both companies "violated their own fiduciary obligations to shareholders.

"If they did, this raises additional serious issues with regard to the inappropriate use of taxpayer funds," he said.

"Merrill Lynch's decision to secretly and prematurely award approximately 3.6 billion dollars in bonuses, and Bank of America's apparent complicity in it, raise serious and disturbing questions," he said.

Shareholders and experts had expressed concern over Merrill's 15.3 billion fourth-quarter loss, which caused Bank of America to request a second round of government bailout on January 16.

Bank of America's shareholders voted to approve Merrill's takeover on December 5.

Former Merrill Lynch chief executive John Thain, Bank of America chief administrative officer J. Steele Alphin and other top executives have been summoned to provide testimony in the probe.

"One disturbing question that must be answered is whether Merrill Lynch and Bank of America timed the bonuses in such a way as to force taxpayers to pay for them through the deal funding," Cuomo said.

Cuomo said the Merrill Lynch bonus payment was "nothing short of staggering."

While more than 39,000 Merrill employees received bonuses from the pool, the vast majority of these funds were "disproportionately distributed to a small number of individuals."

"Indeed, Merrill chose to make millionaires out of a select group of 700 employees."


I am now crossing my fingers real tight that companies in Singapore are going to use their Job Credits the right way. Not "right-for-the-boss" right, but "right-for-the-workers" right...

US banks,government bailout money,Bank of America,Bank of New York Mellon,Citigroup,Goldman Sachs,JPMorgan Chase,Morgan Stanley,State Street,Wells Fargo,Troubled Asset Relief Programme,TARP,bonuses,Merrill Lynch,Congress