SINGAPORE - A teenager along with three others used fake fund-raising permits to purportedly collect donations for the mentally and physically disabled.
Malcolm Chia Han Yu, 18, pleaded guilty on Tuesday (Sept 22) for his part in a conspiracy which collected a total of $1,375.
He and three other men tricked people into giving the money as donations through the sale of postcards without a licence.
Chia is expected to be sentenced on Nov 3, after a probation report was called for on Tuesday.
The court heard that Mr Yeo Zhi Xiang, who was the manager of Oasis Virtue, received a call on Feb 25 informing him that there were people representing Club Heal selling postcards at Block 725 Tampines Street 72.
An online search shows that Oasis Virtue is an advertising company, while Club Heal is a charity that offers rehabilitation and counselling services to those suffering from mental illness.
Oasis Virtue had collaborated with Club Heal last December to raise money for people with mental disorders through the sale of serialised postcards. The project ended on Feb 6.
After the call, Mr Yeo was able to track down three of the men at the void deck of the block.
He asked them for their fund-raising permits as well as the postcards, which were found to be without serial numbers. The permits also appeared to have been forged.
Mr Yeo reported the matter to the police that day.
Investigations found that one of the men, Collin Ang, 18, responded to an online advertisement on "getting fast cash" and was contacted by a "Kingston" on Telegram who gave him a blank template of a fund-raising permit.
Ang then shared the template with Waynne Tang, 19, and they agreed to use the template to create a forged fund-raising permit to carry out a fraudulent charity collection.
Tang then used a postcard which he bought from Club Heal to create other forged postcards.
Tang then recruited Chia, who then recruited Jovan Tay, 20.
Ang, Tang and Tay have been charged and their cases are pending.
Each postcard was sold for $10 each. Seventy per cent of the amount collected was kept by whoever carried out the sale, while the remaining amount was shared among the other three.
Under The House to House and Street Collections Act, Chia can be fined up to $5,000, jailed for up to two years, or both.
