A migrant worker, Islam Mohammad Khabirul, a 34-year-old shipyard worker from Bangladesh, has failed in his appeal to the High Court against his conviction for making a fraudulent claim for work injury compensation. Khabirul was sentenced to 13 weeks’ jail after being found guilty on three charges: one for making the fraudulent claim and two for submitting false statements to a Ministry of Manpower (MOM) investigation officer.
High Court judge Vincent Hoong dismissed Khabirul’s appeal on December 3. Khabirul, who was employed by a company called Vigour Technologies and worked on a vessel named Heerema Sleipnir at Sembcorp Marine Tuas Boulevard Yard, had maintained that his employer and co-workers conspired to implicate him, with the employer masterminding the conspiracy to cover up a genuine accident and avoid regulatory scrutiny regarding the accident.
Justice Hoong rejected this argument, stating that the prosecution presented sufficient evidence to prove that Khabirul had been explicitly instructed not to go to work on the day of the alleged accident, March 1, 2019. The evidence also confirmed that Khabirul did not attend the work briefing scheduled for that day. This evidence supported the prosecution's central case: that Khabirul was only at the workplace with the intention of staging an accident to fabricate a false claim for compensation under the Work Injury Compensation Act (WICA), which he filed on April 11, 2019.
The judge pointed out that Khabirul told multiple lies in his statements to the Ministry of Manpower officer. For instance, Khabirul initially claimed he had reported for work at 7:30 AM on March 1, 2019, a time that aligns with the typical start of a workday. However, when confronted with the shipyard’s entry records, which showed he entered the yard much earlier, at 4:43 AM, Khabirul changed his story. He then claimed he had arrived at the shipyard at that time to borrow money from his uncle who worked there.
Justice Hoong further stated that Khabirul’s detailed account of the accident itself was “inherently improbable.” According to court records, Khabirul had alleged that he fell down the stairs on the vessel after he was struck on the leg by a bundle of insulation. He was subsequently found lying on the tween deck—the space between two decks—while a work briefing was in progress at 7:30 AM, claiming to have suffered injuries to his neck, back, right shoulder, left thigh, and knee.
Furthermore, several of the first responders and medical professionals who attended to Khabirul described his behavior as strongly suggesting he was feigning his injuries. A paramedic testified in court that Khabirul had pretended to be unconscious. Similarly, a doctor at Changi General Hospital observed that the level of pain displayed by Khabirul was significantly disproportionate to the minimal supposed injuries he presented. Adding to the evidence, the worker also notably refused various treatments and medical tests that were offered to him by the attending doctors.
The prosecution’s case rested substantially on the testimony provided by Ms. Sengani Sadasivam, the director of Vigour Technologies, and several employees, which was corroborated by WhatsApp messages exchanged among the witnesses. This evidence showed that on February 28, 2019, Ms. Sengani wanted to discuss a spike in WICA claims against the company with five workers, including Khabirul. She called an employee, Mr. Chowdhury Mohammad Nasu, instructing him to collect the yard access cards from these workers and to tell them not to come to work the next day, March 1, as she wished to speak with them at the dormitory instead. She also sent a message to Mr. Nasu listing the names of the five workers.
Mr. Nasu followed instructions and asked Khabirul and another worker for their access cards, but they refused to surrender them. Later that night, Ms. Sengani spoke directly to the five workers through the speaker of Mr. Nasu’s mobile phone. Mr. Nasu translated Ms. Sengani’s instructions, which were given in English, into Bengali for the workers, clearly instructing them not to report for work on March 1. Another one of the five workers, Mr. Robin Md, also testified about this corridor call, which took place in the corridor outside their rooms.
During his appeal, Khabirul, who was represented by Mr. Anil Balchandani, challenged the evidence by arguing that Ms. Sengani had edited certain WhatsApp messages. Deputy Public Prosecutor Zhou Yihong countered this claim, stating that the argument was speculative as no expert evidence had been presented to the court to determine if any tampering of the messages had occurred. The High Court's dismissal confirms the original conviction and the 13-week jail sentence for making a fraudulent claim and false statements.
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