1,000 S’poreans to return payouts under relief scheme due to wrong declarations: Josephine Teo

• Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said about 0.5 per cent of successful recipients under the Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme must return their payouts
• This was after they were found to have made incorrect declarations 
• The police are investigating alleged scam cases involving Sirs payouts

SINGAPORE — About 1,000 Singaporeans will have to refund payouts that they received from the Government under a scheme to help self-employed individuals cope with the economic impact of Covid-19. 

This was after they were found to have made erroneous declarations following an audit, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo told Parliament on Tuesday (Jan 5).

These recipients form about 0.5 per cent of the 200,000 successful recipients under the Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme (Sirs).

Mrs Teo revealed this after Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh from the Workers’ Party (WP) asked for the absolute figure to be disclosed. 

The issue came up for discussion after Associate Professor Jamus Lim, a WP Member of Parliament (MP) for Sengkang Group Representation Constituency (GRC), tabled a question on the proportion of payouts under the scheme that have been subjected to clawbacks and the key reasons for this. 

Explaining how Sirs payouts are disbursed, Mrs Teo said that the money is given to self-employed workers who are eligible, based on their declared income and number of properties owned. 

The self-employed group, which includes freelancers, taxi drivers, private-hire car drivers and real estate agents, were given three quarterly cash payouts totalling S$9,000. Applications closed on Dec 31 last year. 

The criteria included earning a gross income of no more than S$100,000 a year and not owning more than one property.

Mrs Teo said that an audit confirmed that most successful applicants were eligible for the payouts.

Those found to have made incorrect declarations have been approached to return their payouts and some have already done so. 

Responding to supplementary questions from Assoc Prof Lim on the reasons for the erroneous declarations, Mrs Teo said that some people might not have had an accurate understanding of their financial circumstances.

Mr Singh asked for the number of applicants who got the payouts even though they did not meet the criteria and have now been asked to return the money. 

He recounted a case involving his resident who earned S$10,000 a month, but applied for help through Sirs owing to other circumstances. The resident was given the payout, but it is now being clawed back. 

Mrs Teo replied: “Mr Singh mentioned one. I myself have not come across another, but I believe that there may have been a few.” 

In response to a question from Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Gan Thiam Poh on fraudulent applications, Mrs Teo said that the authorities were aware of scams where individuals were asked to apply for Sirs payouts, even though they were not the intended recipients. 

The police are investigating these incidents.

Mr Singh later pressed Mrs Teo, who is also Second Home Affairs Minister, for the number of cases referred to the police.

Mrs Teo then replied that she did not have the number and could not comment since the cases are under investigation.

In July last year, the police arrested four Singaporeans aged 24 to 55 for allegedly making fraudulent Sirs applications. Several of the applications were made on behalf of other people.

Police investigations are ongoing for the alleged offences of cheating and forgery for the purpose of cheating, under Section 420 and Section 468 of the Penal Code respectively. 

Each offence carries an imprisonment term of up to 10 years and a fine.