SINGAPORE – A woman accused of being involved in a ruse which saw public funds disbursed over false claims had all seven of her charges withdrawn after receiving a stern warning.
Ms A.K. Sahtyah J. Alexander Vincent, 35, was married to S. Chandran, 42, at the time of her purported offences.
Chandran, an IT instructor-turned-magician, had worked with three other individuals to make bogus claims under the Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC) scheme.
As a result of the fraudulent claims, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) disbursed more than $24,000 to each of the three individuals.
Ms Sahtyah was originally accused of being involved in the ruse. The offences under the Income Tax Act took place in 2013 and 2014.
Among other things, she was said to have instigated another woman to obtain a cash payout under the PIC scheme by giving false information.
Ms Sahtyah was given a discharge amounting to an acquittal in April. This means that she cannot be charged again with the same offences.
In a statement to The Straits Times, the Attorney-General’s Chambers said: “The prosecution had applied for all of Sahtyah’s charges to be withdrawn, following the administration of a stern warning to her.
“In deciding to take this course of action, the prosecution had carefully considered the facts and circumstances of the matter and the public interest, in consultation with Iras.”
The PIC scheme offered tax deductions or cash payouts to companies that made genuine investments to enhance productivity and innovation, such as investing in staff training, information technology or automation equipment.
As part of the conditions, businesses had to employ at least three local employees before they were eligible for the PIC cash payouts.
Iras said on its website that the PIC scheme expired after the Year of Assessment 2018.
Chandran, who was the sole proprietor of a firm called Paradize Consultancy, had helped a man and two women make bogus claims under the PIC scheme.
In one of the cases, he helped the man register a sole proprietorship, and although the company had no employees, Chandran convinced the man to make a fake PIC claim.
He repeated this tactic with the two women.
After receiving the monies in 2014, the three of them handed half of their ill-gotten gains to Chandran.
Chandran was found guilty on July 3, 2020, of three counts of helping the three individuals to make bogus claims under the PIC scheme.
The two women were given conditional warnings, while the man was ordered to pay a $49,212 penalty and a $5,000 fine in 2017.
Chandran was sentenced to three years’ jail in March 2021 and ordered to pay a penalty of $295,272. Failure to pay the fine would have seen him spend an additional 30 weeks behind bars.
He appealed against his conviction and sentence in March 2022. His appeal against his conviction was unsuccessful, but his jail term was reduced to 28 months.
His penalty of $295,272 and its default terms remained unchanged.
Chandran still faces more than 50 pending charges and his pre-trial conference will be held on May 9.
