Childcare centre director among 3 to be charged with cheating S$4,800 in subsidies

SINGAPORE: A former director of Faith Educare childcare centres and two of her employees will be charged in court on Wednesday (Mar 17) over fraudulent subsidy claims.

The three women, aged between 42 and 53, are alleged to have conspired to deceive the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) into disbursing subsidies for eight children, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said in a news release on Tuesday.

The children had either not started on their enrolment during the months for which subsidies were claimed, or did not attend Faith Educare centres at all.

"The women allegedly submitted 16 subsidy claims to ECDA, which falsely confirmed these children’s attendance between January and August 2016, resulting in wrongful payouts amounting to S$4,800," SPF said.

If convicted, the three women face up to 10 years' jail, a fine, or both.

The police warned that they take a serious view against any person involved in dishonest or fraudulent conduct pertaining to applications for Government grants, adding that offenders will be dealt with severely in accordance with the law.

ECDA administers the Child Care Subsidies Scheme, which helps to defray preschool expenses for Singaporean children through the payment of subsidies to ECDA-licensed childcare centres in Singapore.