11 people charged over allegedly attempting to cheat Covid-19 support schemes
Eleven people, aged between 28 and 65,were charged in court on Thursday (May 5) for allegedly attempting to get money under the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) and two other Covid-19 support grants by fraud.
The three financial support schemes were launched by the Government during the Covid-19 pandemic, the police said on Thursday.
Gay Kah Leong and Deidrea Tan Zhong Lin of Kings Spa SG were charged over allegedly attempting to cheat the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) into disbursing a payout from the JSS of about $50,000 for 36 people who did not perform work or receive salaries as declared.
The JSS, administered by Iras, offered wage support to employers so they could retain their local employees.
Gay and Tan, together with seven other people, were also charged over their alleged involvement in falsifying the employment contracts and payslips submitted to Iras and providing false information.
Gay and two other people were also charged over allegedly cheating or attempting to cheat the the Ministry of Social and Family Development into disbursing money from the Covid-19 Support Grant and Temporary Relief Fund when they did not suffer job loss or income loss due to the pandemic.
In a separate case, Teoh Wong Har of TK Manufacturing and Wholesale Centre and Wong Lai Kook of Double Ace Associates were charged over allegedly attempting to cheat Iras into disbursing JSS payouts to people who were either not employed or who did not perform the work as declared.
The payouts would have amounted to around $15,000.
Those convicted of cheating or attempted cheating can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined for each offence.
For falsification of accounts, one can be jailed for up to 10 years or fined, or both.
For each offence of furnishing false information, one can be jailed for up to three years or fined, or both.
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