2 men allegedly colluded to try and dupe Iras into disbursing over $30,000 in grants
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The pair allegedly worked together to try and dupe Iras into disbursing grants under the Jobs Support Scheme in June 2020.
PHOTO: ST FILE
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SINGAPORE – Two men allegedly worked together to try and deceive the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) into disbursing more than $30,000 in a government grant scheme introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
One of them, Sean Tan Zheng Wee, 30, who is a director of biotechnology firm Insect Feed Technologies, was handed 13 cheating charges on July 30.
His alleged accomplice, Alvin Yap Ah Seng, 59, who used to own several firms, including Qian Hu Fish Farm Trading, was charged with 10 counts of cheating.
All of Yap’s cheating charges and most of Tan’s are allegedly linked to Insect Feed Technologies.
On June 10, 2020, the pair allegedly worked together to try and dupe Iras into disbursing grants under the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS), which provided wage support to employers to help them retain local workers during the pandemic, the police said on July 29.
Under the JSS, the Government co-funded 25 per cent to 75 per cent of the gross monthly wages paid to each local employee through cash grants.
Tan allegedly attempted to deceive Iras into disbursing the money with Yap’s help by claiming that 10 employees of Insect Feed Technologies were paid their full salaries in May 2020.
The police added: “This was allegedly false as the employees were required to pay back their salaries to (Tan).
“(Yap) had allegedly assisted in the fraud by funding the CPF contributions for the inflated salaries of these employees so that they would qualify for the JSS payouts.”
Tan allegedly attempted to dupe Iras into disbursing another $3,375 in JSS grants between October and November 2020.
He is accused of claiming that a woman had worked for Terra Tea Company in May 2020 when she had not.
Court documents did not disclose how he was linked to the company. All the JSS grants allegedly linked to Terra Tea Company and Insect Feed Technologies were withheld, said the police.
Separately, Tan is also accused of deceiving Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) into disbursing more than $33,000 in total.
He faces two charges allegedly involving the E-Commerce Booster Package administered by EnterpriseSG.
The initiative was meant to help small and medium-sized enterprise retailers which are new to or have little experience in e-commerce to diversify their revenue streams beyond the traditional bricks-and-mortar model.
According to EnterpriseSG, this was especially relevant amid the Covid-19 situation.
The package included support of up to 90 per cent of the qualifying costs, and wage support for up to three employees for three months.
On April 30, 2021, Tan allegedly submitted a claim under the package by declaring that wages were paid to three Insect Feed Technologies employees for work done between October and December 2020.
EnterpriseSG is said to have disbursed more than $16,000 to the company.
He allegedly committed a similar offence linked to Terra Tea Company on May 10, 2021, involving the same amount of money.
The cases involving Tan and Yap have been adjourned to August.
For each count of cheating, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined.
