Two men charged over forgery to cheat MSF

Two Singaporean men allegedly forged retrenchment letters to dupe the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) into disbursing funds designed to help people affected by the Covid-19 outbreak.

Chow Jia Chuan, 29, was charged yesterday with one count of cheating and one of forgery with the intention to cheat. He also faces four counts of attempted cheating.

In a separate incident, Edward Goh, 43, is accused of two counts of forgery with the intention to cheat.

Chow allegedly made a false declaration in his Covid-19 Temporary Relief Fund application on April 20, claiming that he had lost his job due to the outbreak. The MSF is said to have given him $500 the next day.

Court papers said Chow attempted to cheat the MSF by making a similar false declaration on May 5 in an application to a separate assistance scheme - the Covid-19 Support Grant. The court heard that if his application had been approved, the ministry would have paid him $800 a month for three months.

He is said to have attempted to cheat an MSF officer by repeating similar lies on May 13 and 14. He is also accused of forging a retrenchment letter on May 14. Court papers did not reveal his state of employment at the time.

He allegedly attempted to cheat the MSF again on May 21.

Police said yesterday that his Covid-19 Support Grant application was not approved.

Goh faces similar allegations. He is said to have forged a retrenchment letter on May 5 with the intention to cheat the MSF into disbursing a Covid-19 Support Grant to a Tan Meng Lan, whose details were not revealed in court documents.

Goh is also said to have forged a letter on May 14 in a bid to dupe the ministry into disbursing a similar grant to one Goh Keng Thow, whose details were also not revealed in court documents.

Goh told the court yesterday that he will plead guilty while Chow said he intends to engage a lawyer.

The men were offered bail of $10,000 each. Their cases have been adjourned to July 29.


This article has been edited for clarity.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 02, 2020, with the headline Two men charged over forgery to cheat MSF. Subscribe