Serious Robinhood couple cheated huge PAP funds hundreds of charges, patriots?

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Former SPRING Singapore employees convicted of fraud
File photo of a gavel. (Photo: AFP)
By Vanessa Paige Chelvan
23 May 2017 05:56PM
(Updated: 23 May 2017 06:00PM)
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SINGAPORE: Two former employees of SPRING Singapore were convicted on Tuesday (May 23) of cheating the statutory board of S$50,000. The two, who were a couple, had also tricked SPRING into approving another payout to the tune of S$145,000, although they ultimately never received the money.

Soh Hua Xiang and I Shu Hui, both 30, pleaded guilty to 21 and 20 charges respectively for teaming up to cheat their employer. Another 180 charges will be taken into account when Mr Soh is sentenced. Ms I will have another 176 charges taken into consideration.

Mr Soh had worked for SPRING as a business capabilities manager for about four years when he quit in 2015. He was in charge of the statutory board’s innovation and capabilities voucher (ICV) scheme, which aims to help small and medium enterprises develop their business capabilities by disbursing grants of up to S$40,000.

In August 2015, after he left his job, Mr Soh and Ms I, who was then a finance manager at SPRING, conspired to cheat the statutory board by submitting fake claims for ICVs. Mr Soh knew the scheme well, having had a role in its design. He had even assisted in investigations into potentially false claims.

Defence lawyer Che Wei Chin said Mr Soh had become disillusioned and “frustrated” because he could not convince his ex-boss that the ICV scheme had “some loopholes”. “What he did was necessary … to highlight the loopholes to SPRING”, Mr Che said, although he acknowledged that Mr Soh’s actions were “wrongful”.
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Ms I abetted the offences “out of affection” for her lover, the lawyer said. Soh told her he would use the money to buy them a condominium.

FAKE E-MAILS, FORGED SIGNATURES, DOCTORED PHOTOGRAPHS

Mr Soh submitted 20 false claims totaling S$50,000 in August 2015. He used the details of 18 sole proprietors of minimarts to lodge claims for the purchase of point-of-sales systems, without the owners’ knowledge.

The court heard that he “walked around the heartlands of Singapore” to identify suitable minimarts and passed details of the shops to Ms I, who could check whether owners had submitted ICV claims before. If they had not, he used the business’ details to lodge fake claims.

He created fake e-mail addresses, forged quotations, invoices and receipts and doctored photographs to fool SPRING. He also forged the signature of his business partner, with whom he had a joint bank account, or asked his partner to sign the forms in erasable ink, so he could erase his signature and fill in other details as he pleased.

Once SPRING approved the claims, Ms I, as a finance manager, would approve the disbursement of the ICV grants into Soh’s bank account. The couple pocketed S$50,000 using this modus operandi.

Mr Soh had submitted another 10 claims totaling S$145,000, but before SPRING could disburse the money, he asked Ms I to recall the forged documents he had sent in.

SPRING lodged a police report on May 26, accusing Mr Soh of making false claims.

He also faces an additional charge for cheating SPRING of S$5,000 in July 2015, the first time he succeeded in lodging a false claim before he roped Ms I in in August.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Magdalene Huang sought an 18-month jail term for Mr Soh and 15 months’ jail for Ms I. She said the couple had committed the offences over about six months, and that Ms I had abused her employer’s trust by approving the disbursements despite knowing the claims were fake.

Mr Soh’s offences are aggravated by the fact that he was a former SPRING employee and knew the ins and outs of the scheme well, DPP Huang said.

The couple will be sentenced on Jun 6.

According to SPRING Singapore’s website, an “upgraded” ICV portal giving companies “greater control, security and efficiency” was launched in December last year.

For cheating, the couple could each be jailed for up to 10 years per charge and fined.
Source: CNA/vc


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