Ex-principal accused of cheating $7,000 from govt subsidy scheme
A former principal of a student care centre is alleged to have forged subsidy documents to cheat the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) of about $7,000.
Shaik Ismail Mohd Ali, 49, the former principal of Impresario Learning Lab, was yesterday slapped with nine charges for cheating and forgery offences in relation to subsidy applications made under MSF's Student Care Fee Assistance (SCFA) scheme.
Under the scheme, eligible households receive monthly fee subsidies for the child's student care fees.
They can also receive a one-off grant of up to $400 a child, to subsidise the initial costs of student care enrolment.
Shaik Ismail also faces two charges for criminal intimidation, a charge for perverting the course of justice by instigating a witness to give false information to the police and a charge for being armed with a weapon.
The prosecution alleges that from 2014 to 2016, he forged electronic signatures on student care subsidy renewal forms for a student who had already stopped attending the centre, and also falsely represented the employment of the parents of two students by forging the signatures on certificates of employment and income.
The alleged forged documents resulted in subsidy payouts of about $7,000 to Impresario Learning Lab.
Court documents also said that in July 2016, Shaik Ismail instigated a woman, whose signature he had allegedly forged, to give false information to the police.
Then on Sept 3 last year, he allegedly intimidated two people, threatening to kill them and burn their flat down.
He was also found with a black metal pole in a public place later that evening.
In a news release yesterday, the Singapore Police Force said Impresario Learning Lab's status as an administrator of the SCFA scheme had been revoked since 2016 and the centre has since ceased operations.
Shaik Ismail has been offered bail for $15,000 and is expected to be back in court on Jan 30.
If convicted for forgery for the purpose of cheating, he can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined for each charge.
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