Student care centre supervisor jailed over S$29,000 in wrongful government fee subsidy claims

• Daljit Kaur Yinder Singh kept up false attendance records at a student care centre
• She was following instructions of her boss to get subsidies from a scheme
• Her lawyer said she was a “mere pawn” and “blinded by love”
• She committed the offences from 2014 and 2016 before the authorities caught on to the deeds

SINGAPORE —When children stopped attending the student care centre that Daljit Kaur Yinder Singh supervised, she followed instructions from her boss to falsify their attendance records.

Through this ruse, the Welcare Student Care Centre, which provided after-school day care to primary school children, continued to receive subsidies paid to their bank account under the Student Care Fee Assistance scheme.

They submitted the forged records to the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) for audit. In total, there were S$48,280 in wrongful claims between 2014 and 2016.

On Wednesday (Oct 14), Daljit, 50, was jailed four months’ for conspiring with the centre’s owner Gerard Michael, 51. He intends to claim trial to his charges.

She pleaded guilty to three counts of aiding Gerard to cheat MSF, falsifying records and giving false information to a public servant.

The amount of losses from her conspiracy with Gerard amounted to S$29,410. The centre has paid about S$29,000 back to the ministry.

The centre’s status as a Student Care Fee Assistance administrator was revoked in August 2016, some months after the MSF made a police report.

CREATED FAKE RECORDS AND DOCUMENTS

Under the Student Care Fee Assistance scheme, families who meet certain income and employment conditions can get government subsidies for their student care fees.

The monthly subsidies per child ranged from S$29 to S$285 — or between 10 per cent and 98 per cent of the monthly fees.

Student care centres are required to maintain the children’s attendance records because they need to attend for at least half the month for the subsidies to be granted.

The subsidies are paid directly to the centres’ bank accounts every month.

When children withdraw from the centre, it has to submit a withdrawal form to MSF, which will stop disbursing subsidy claims immediately.

The court heard that Daljit assisted Gerard in operating the centre, supervising the children and liaising with their parents on Student Care Fee Assistance matters.

When she learned that children had stopped attending or withdrew from the centre, she told Gerard.

He instructed her to make false entries in their attendance book and prepare other supporting documents, such as temperature-taking sheets.

The parents of 12 children told Daljit that they intended to withdraw from the centre, but she also deliberately did not submit the necessary withdrawal forms to MSF.

As a result, the ministry disbursed S$13,630 in wrongful claims from January to May 2015.

CHEATED COMCARE

Separately, in January that year, Gerard told Daljit to go to the Social Services Office in Ang Mo Kio to apply for ComCare assistance for his mother.

ComCare is a government financial assistance scheme for Singaporeans and permanent residents who have a monthly household income of S$1,900 or below, or a per capita income of S$650 or below.

The older woman worked as a caretaker at Welcare Student Care Centre and was paid S$350 a month. Gerard and his sister also gave her pocket money occasionally.

However, Gerard told Daljit to tell the Social Services Office that his mother was unemployed and her children had left her without financial support.

Daljit did so, and MSF eventually approved her ComCare application. They credited S$340 into her bank account for six months, as well as paid her conservancy charges and home rental.

In mitigation, her lawyer SS Dhillon said that she has willingly agreed to be a prosecution witness against Gerard when he stands trial.

“She was a mere pawn used by Gerard… the offences were committed at a very low point of time when she was blinded by love,” he added.

District Judge Ong Luan Tze agreed with him that Daljit was not the mastermind and acted on instructions, though she should not have complied with them.

For abetting Gerard to cheat MSF, Daljit could have been jailed up to 10 years and fined. Falsifying records carries a similar punishment.

For lying to a public servant, she could have been jailed up to two years or fined, or both.