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A 31-year-old woman will be charged in court on 23 April 2021 for cheating and forgery offences involving the COVID-19 Support Grant (“CSG”). The CSG was launched in May 2020 to provide financial support to Singaporeans affected by the economic impact of COVID-19 and was administered by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (“MSF”).

The woman is alleged to have:

1. cheated MSF into disbursing $4,000 for two of her CSG applications;
   
   
2. attempted to cheat MSF of $4,800 in another two CSG applications;
   
   
3. submitted a forged letter of termination of employment; and,
   
   
4. provided false information to two police officers investigating her CSG applications.

If convicted, the woman faces the following punishments:

1. An imprisonment term of up to 10 years and a fine for the offence of cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code. The prescribed punishment for attempted cheating is the same;
   
   
2. An imprisonment term of up to 10 years and a fine for the offence of forgery for the purpose of cheating under Section 468 of the Penal Code; and,
   
   
3. An imprisonment term of up to three years, a fine, or both for the offence of furnishing false information under Section 177(2) of the Penal Code.

The Police takes a serious view of anyone involved in making dishonest or fraudulent claims for Government grants. Offenders will be dealt with severely in accordance with the law.