SINGAPORE: A woman has been on Monday (Aug 29) jailed designed for five weeks pertaining to forging a retrenchment letter to apply for the COVID-19 Support Offer.
Goh Chyi Chen, 42, pleaded guilty to 1 charge of forgery. Another charge of attempting to cheat the Ministry of Interpersonal and Family Growth (MSF) was considered for sentencing.
The court noticed that Goh worked well as a senior retail executive with Rigel Telecom before the accidents. She was terminated in May 2020 because of unsatisfactory work efficiency.
The reasons just for Goh’s retrenchment had been stated in a notice issued by Rigel Telecom, and the girl retrenchment was not related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the court has been told.
The COVID-19 Support Grant , administered by MSF, provided financial help Singaporeans affected by the particular economic impact of the pandemic.
For those who lost their work or were on involuntary no-pay depart for at least 3 consecutive months, the grant provided the monthly cash offer of up to S$800 for three months. The cash support quantum was in line with the last-drawn monthly salary, capped at S$800.
On Oct 1, 2020, Goh submitted an online software for the COVID-19 Assistance Grant that integrated a forged retrenchment letter.
The girl used word processing software to change the contents of the letter, deleting all of the reasons given on her retrenchment and rather stating that it was due to COVID-19.
Upon Oct 12, 2020, an MSF official contacted the company in order to verify the letter’s contents and learned that the company failed to issue the notice.
When the officer contacted Goh on the phone, she ongoing to claim that she was retrenched because of the pandemic. MSF eventually rejected Goh’s application.
Deputy Community Prosecutor Norman Yew argued that Goh’s actions put general public funds in peril, and pointed out that the lady persisted in the girl lie when wondered by an MSF officer.
He also said that Goh had related earlier convictions for infidelity, forgery and legal breach of trust, although these happened in 2004 and were relatively dated.
Defence lawyer Anand Nalachandran, who requested not more than the week’s jail intended for his client, requested the court to consider the “desperate situation” Goh was in across the time she offended.
He outlined that after the offences, Goh was diagnosed with depression by the Institute of Mental Wellness. Although there was no contributory link to Goh’s offences, the diagnosis showed she was facing several stressors in her lifestyle that led to her mistake, said the particular lawyer.
Mr Nalachandran also contended that Goh’s software was rejected simply by MSF, and no community funds were disbursed to her.
The penalty for forgery is up to four years’ jail, a fine or both.