A Singapore business owner was fined $ 9,000 for confining three Indian nationals working for him in a room for about 40 days amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
Workers were first confined from May 12 to 15 and then over a five-week period from May 19 to June 26. Shaun Pang Tong Heng had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of forcible confinement. The Indian workers were Ganesan Pandi, Pandiyan Jakakanthan and Muthuraj Thangaraj. Three other similar charges involving the same men were considered in sentencing.
The lawyer said that during the outbreak, Ganesan and Pandiyan left their place of residence in Tuas to buy alcohol while housed near a COVID-19 cluster. Pandiyan also drove a company truck without a license. As for Muthuraj, he had previously been arrested for drunk driving. The court heard that the room the trio were confined to had clean beds, a bathroom, and Wi-Fi. They were also given meals and plenty of water. But deputy prosecutor Eric Hu said that was no excuse for the director to take matters into his own hands. Before pronouncing the sentence, the judge said that the manager should have informed the police of the workers.
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