A director of a human resources consultancy has admitted to cheating the government in the SkillsFuture credit (SFC) scheme and receiving almost $145,000 through fraudulent means.
Zheng Zhenwei Eric, sole director and shareholder of Biz HR Solutionz, pleaded guilty this week to 30 counts of cheating the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) by instigating others to submit false claims.
Another 120 charges were taken into consideration, reported
Yahoo News.
Zheng had allegedly recruited 380 people to submit claims to the WDA; the agency approved 293 of the claims and disbursed $144,840 to Biz HR.
The SFC scheme provides that all Singaporean citizens 25 years and older shall receive an opening credit of $500 in their accounts. They can use this to pay for approved skills-related courses.
Zheng is accused of contacting friends and offering them between $150 and $200 in cash for registering for Biz HR’s courses through their SFC accounts.
Zheng, 35, also asked Tan Yu Sheng, 29, and Sim Chee Kiong, 41, to get more referrals.
They told their contacts that attendance to the courses – one- or two-day courses that cost $480 or $500 – was not compulsory and that they would receive the cash after WDA disbursed Biz HR.
Trainees were asked to pre-sign course attendance sheets.
SFC terms and conditions say that trainees have to cancel their claims if they fail to attend courses. A training provider is also not allowed to pay trainees using money disbursed from their SFC accounts.
Zheng paid Tan and Sim $250 for each referred trainee. Upon getting the cash from Zheng, Tan and Sim paid $200 to each of the trainees and kept $50 as referral fees. Tan referred 89 trainees, while Sim referred 73.
Zheng kept the remainder of the disbursed amount.
The WDA however conducted a surprise audit on Biz HR after it submitted 144 attendance records as proof that the trainees attended courses, for which Zheng and one Yeo Junwei were trainers. Based on these attendance records, WDA disbursed $71,500 to Biz HR.
Zheng also asked some of the trainees to provide information to the WDA during interviews conducted in relation to the audit.
But one trainee, who had not been coached, confessed to the WDA during an interview.
Yeo has since been charged with 31 counts of falsifying course attendance records. Tan was jailed eight months and Sim, six months for their part in the scam.
For his part, Zheng faces up to 10 years in jail and a fine.
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