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SINGAPORE – A 50-year-old woman was sentenced to four months in jail for helping her supervisor at a daycare center fool the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) out of more than $ 29,000 in cash.
Daljit Kaur Yinder Singh pleaded guilty on Wednesday (October 14) to falsely submitting forms and other documents to defraud MSF out of $ 29,410.
By falsifying documents, she helped trick the ministry into continually distributing subsidies for 20 children under the Student Fee Assistance (SCFA) scheme, when the children no longer attended the child care center where she worked.
The SCFA scheme provides eligible families with subsidies for their child’s student care fees. Grants are paid monthly directly to the bank account of the student service center. The amount disbursed can range from $ 29 to $ 285 for each child per month.
MSF’s Kaur deception led to money being continually disbursed to the Welcare Student Care Center, where she worked as a supervisor of the center from 2002 to June 2015.
According to court documents, Kaur helped obtain $ 15,780 in scammed money between January and December 2014 by falsifying the forms of eight children. He then helped defraud MSF out of another $ 13,630 between January and May 2015 by tampering with the records of 12 children.
The court heard that Kaur was notified that the children were no longer attending the center and that they would have to be withdrawn from the SCFA program.
According to the proper procedures, Kaur would have to send the children’s withdrawal forms to MSF, after which the ministry would stop disbursements immediately.
However, the owner and supervisor of the center, Gerard Michael, 51, instructed him not to send the withdrawal forms to MSF.
Kaur also falsified a variety of details in the center’s system on Michael’s behalf, including temperature logs, attendance sheets, and student consent forms, to create the impression that the children had an attendance rate of more than 50. % in the middle.
“This was done to meet the requirements of the SCFA scheme and for Welcare Student Care Center to continue to receive SCFA subsidies for these children,” Deputy Prosecutor Chong Yonghui said.
Investigations have since revealed that Welcare Student Care Center allegedly made erroneous SCFA claims totaling $ 48,280 between 2014 and 2016. MSF filed a police report on February 12, 2016.
Kaur’s conspiracy with Michael resulted in MSF losing $ 29,410. Since then, the center has reimbursed $ 28,762 to MSF and $ 19,518 remains outstanding.
Furthermore, Kaur was also accused of lying to a public official in 2015 about the employment status of Michael’s mother, Joseph Lily, to fraudulently obtain financial assistance from ComCare for half a year.
Defense attorney SS Dhillon said in his mitigation plea that Kaur was not the mastermind of the crime and that she had followed Michael’s instructions as she was in love with him.
“She was a simple pawn used by Michael and the crimes were committed because of her financial situation and because she was blinded by love,” Dhillon said.
Kaur began serving his prison sentence on Wednesday. Michael has also been accused of being the mastermind of the cheating crimes and has sought trial.
Her case will be handled separately, and Kaur has indicated her intention to act as a willing prosecution witness in Michael’s case.
Anyone convicted of cheating crimes can be jailed for 10 years or fined.
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