Company director charged with cheating IRAS into disbursing wage support funds during COVID-19 pandemic

SINGAPORE: A director of a company was charged on Thursday (Mar 20) with cheating the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) into disbursing funds under the Jobs Support Scheme at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Eng Kar Keng, 44, was also accused of attempted cheating, falsifying accounts and providing false information to a public servant, amounting to six charges in total. 

The Jobs Support Scheme, administered by IRAS, was introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide wage support for employers to retain their employees. 

Under the scheme, the government co-funded 25 per cent to 75 per cent of the gross monthly wages paid to each local employee through cash grants to help enterprises. 

To ensure that the scheme’s payouts were fairly and correctly disbursed, the police said IRAS conducted reviews of higher risk cases using data analytics and information provided by the public. It then adjusted or denied payouts to employers who were unable to substantiate their eligibility. 

According to charge sheets, Eng was the sole director of a company named Fresh Cars. 

On May 15, 2020, Eng allegedly cheated IRAS by making Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions to two employees on behalf of Fresh Cars based on inflated salaries of S$4,600 (US$3,500) and S$3,600 for April 2020. 

The act supposedly resulted in IRAS disbursing S$2,450 to Fresh Cars for one employee and S$2,700 for the other as payouts under the Jobs Support Scheme. 

Eng then allegedly attempted to cheat IRAS by inflating the salaries of four employees for the months of May to August 2020. 

Eng intended to induce IRAS into disbursing S$33,719 under the Job Support Scheme for these employees, according to the charge sheet. The sum was withheld by IRAS, the police said in a news release on Wednesday. 

When asked to substantiate the salaries of the employees, Eng allegedly falsified the payslips of four employees for the months of May to August 2020 and submitted them to IRAS. 

Eng then allegedly instructed two employees in 2021 to lie to IRAS officers about their salary matters. 

Eng did not indicate a plea after being charged. He said that he would be engaging a lawyer. 

His case will be next mentioned on Apr 17. 

If convicted of cheating and attempted cheating, Eng may be jailed up to 10 years and fined. 

The offence of falsifying accounts carries a jail term of up to 10 years, a fine, or both. 

Those found guilty of of providing false information to a public servant may be jailed up to two years, fined, or both.