Aquaculture Executive Jailed Eight Weeks for Fraud Attempt Against IRAS

By
Siti Hajar
-
Advertisements
 

An executive director of an aquaculture business was sentenced to eight weeks in jail on 25 Mar 2025 after attempting to cheat the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) out of grants under the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS).

Alvin Yap Ah Seng, 60, who formerly owned several firms including Yi Hu Fish Farm Trading, pleaded guilty to two counts of cheating, with eight other charges taken into consideration during sentencing.

Jobs Support Scheme Fraud Plot Uncovered

The JSS was introduced by the Singapore Government during the COVID-19 pandemic to help employers by co-funding between 25 and 75 per cent of the first $4,600 of an employee’s wages through cash grants.

Advertisements
 

Yap worked with Sean Tan Zheng Wee, 31, who was the director of biotechnology firm Insect Feed Technologies (IFT), to dupe IRAS into disbursing $6,750 in grants. Tan’s case is still pending before the courts.

The court heard that Yap invested around $20,000 in IFT and provided resources for testing Tan’s products after they met around 2020. Yap was described as a “passive partner” in Tan’s business, which focused on farming insects for animal feed.

According to Deputy Public Prosecutor Jordon Li, Tan devised a plan to take advantage of the JSS. He knew that payments had to be made to the Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts of IFT’s employees since the JSS was automatically computed based on CPF contributions data.

To generate wage payment records consistent with the CPF contributions, Tan paid wages to employees but required them to return the money to his personal bank account. This meant employees would receive CPF contributions but no actual wages.

Tan shared his plan with Yap and asked the older man to help provide the cash needed for CPF contributions. Yap agreed and provided about 35 per cent of the money, amounting to approximately $22,600.

Fraudulent Employee Records and Detection

In June 2020, a woman began working as a corporate finance intern at IFT without any salary, as she wanted to gain exposure in a start-up business.

However, in documents Tan submitted to IRAS, this intern was listed as receiving a gross monthly salary of $4,500. Despite starting work only in June 2020, she received a CPF contribution from IFT for May 2020.

The intern also received $3,600 in June 2020, supposedly as salary from IFT for May 2020, but was asked to return this amount to Tan’s personal bank account, which she did.

Advertisements
 

The court heard Tan had attempted to deceive IRAS into believing the woman was employed by IFT in May 2020 to dishonestly induce the agency to disburse the October 2020 payout of $3,375. Court documents showed he committed a similar offense that year involving a second intern linked to another $3,375.

The scheme was uncovered after IRAS conducted follow-up interviews with IFT employees and discovered they had returned wages to Tan’s personal bank account and some had received CPF contributions before they actually started employment with IFT.

As a result, IRAS did not disburse any grant money to IFT.

In court, the prosecution sought a sentence of at least two months’ imprisonment, arguing that there is a need for general deterrence to safeguard national resources.

They acknowledged that Yap’s liability was “clearly” lower than Tan’s, as Tan conceived the scheme and was the primary actor in carrying it out.

Advertisements
 

The defense highlighted Yap’s “passive participation” and low level of involvement, adding that he was remorseful.

District Judge John Ng stated that a custodial sentence was warranted in this case and that it had to send the “right signal.”

“The government, in giving out the grants, is trying to help everybody. We cannot have situations where you all take advantage or deceive,” said Judge Ng.

For cheating, Yap could have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined.

These five GRCs could see the tightest battle in GE2025; here’s why:

Read Also:


 
Siti Hajar