Two local women have pleaded guilty in the Magistrate’s Court on Monday to charges under the Employment Agencies Order, 2004, for operating unlicensed employment agency services and lending a valid agency licence to an unlicensed individual.
Hajah Dayang Tirahmat @ Hajah Dayang Siti Armah binti Haji Untong, 67, admitted to carrying out employment agency work between October 2023 and January 2024 without a valid licence issued by the Commissioner of Labour.
Meanwhile, Suyanti binti Haji Sarji, 56, the licensee and registered owner of Suyanti Sarji Employment Agency, pleaded guilty to lending her agency licence to Hajah Dayang Tirahmat during the same period, enabling the latter to unlawfully operate recruitment services.
According to Deputy Public Prosecutor Emily Goh, Hajah Dayang Tirahmat assisted two individuals in hiring Indonesian domestic workers and a driver through the use of Suyanti’s licence.
She facilitated the recruitment by offering biodata of potential workers, liaising with the employment agency in Indonesia, and compiling necessary documentation. In return, she received payments totalling BND9,000—BND3,000 in cash from one employer and BND6,000 via bank transfer from the other. She also issued her own receipts and received a personal cut of BND200 per worker, while most of the fees were used to cover Indonesian agency costs and worker processing fees.
Investigations confirmed that Hajah Dayang Tirahmat did not hold any employment agency licence and had committed an offence under Section 6(1) of the Employment Agencies Order, 2004, punishable by a fine of up to BND5,000, imprisonment for up to a year, or both.
As for Suyanti, she admitted to allowing Hajah Dayang Tirahmat to use her licence and agency documents for applications to the Labour Department. She received BND500 on two occasions from Hajah Dayang Tirahmat for processing costs related to the workers.
Her actions breached Section 31(f) of the same Order, which prohibits a licensee from lending their licence to another party. The offence carries a penalty of up to BND5,000 in fines, imprisonment of up to two years, or both.
Both defendants have no prior convictions.
Magistrate Syaffina Shahif has scheduled sentencing for Tuesday. – Fadley Faisal
