Probation for NSF who cheated Government out of S$2,500 in COVID-19 grants

SINGAPORE: A full-time national serviceman was given 18 months' probation on Tuesday (Jan 19) for cheating the Government out of S$2,500 in COVID-19 grants.

Yee Jia Hao, 20, had spent the fraudulently obtained money on gambling and has not made restitution. 

In addition to his probation, Yee will have to perform 60 hours of community service and attend a gambling relapse prevention programme. 

Yee took advantage of the Temporary Relief Fund, a financial support scheme announced by the Government in March last year as part of the Resilience Budget to help combat the economic and social impact of COVID-19.

To obtain the grants, applicants must meet certain criteria including the loss of at least 30 per cent of personal income due to the pandemic.

Each application required details of a registered PayNow bank account linked to the applicant's NRIC or mobile number, and those eligible would receive immediate payouts of S$500 regardless of the quantum of income lost.

On Apr 17 last year, while Yee was a full-time NSF, he made an application lying that he had lost at least 30 per cent of his personal income because of COVID-19.

He knew this was false as he had been jobless before the pandemic and his income only increased when he began national service. 

The Ministry of Social and Family Development was deceived and disbursed S$500 to him on Apr 20 last year.

After receiving this sum, Yee asked his father for his SingPass details claiming that he would help him apply for Government grants. Instead, Yee created an application lying that his father had lost at least 30 per cent of his income.

His father had continued to receive the same salary with his employment with a marketing firm. Yee used his own PayNow bank account details in his application for his father, and received another S$500.

A day after receiving this sum, Yee asked a friend to give him his SingPass credentials, claiming he would help him apply for a SkillsFuture course.

His friend asked Yee if he intended to use his credentials in any illegal manner, but Yee assured him four times that he did not. Yee used his friend's information to create a third fraudulent application and received another S$500.

Aside from these crimes, Yee also helped a friend who wanted to make fraudulent grant applications. However, instead of having the money credited to his friend, he put his own PayNow account details in the application and the money was disbursed to him instead.   

An MSF officer lodged a police report on May 27 last year, stating that Yee's friend had had his SingPass credentials used for a fraudulent online grant application without his knowledge.

Investigations found that eight such applications had been made using Yee's mobile number, of which five had been approved and paid out to Yee.

Yee had used the cash for gambling and did not repay any of it. He pleaded guilty to four counts of cheating or attempted cheating, with another six charges taken into consideration. 

His parents furnished a bond of S$5,000 to ensure his good behaviour during probation.

For each charge of cheating, he could have been jailed up to 10 years and fined.

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