4 S’poreans Arrested for Allegedly Forging Docs to Get $9,000 Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme

When applications for the Temporary Relief Funds (TRF) were open, what made the news weren’t how easy it was to apply, but how people were abusing it.

So much so that someone actually posted online about how he “cheated” to get the funds, but took back his words shortly after that.

The TRF is a support grant for employed people whose income has been impacted by COVID-19 and back then, it was a one-time relief fund (followed by the COVID-19 Support Grant that will disburse up to $800 a month). That was handled by the Ministry of Social and Family Development.

And for the self-employed, the grant given is a tad higher, at a total of $9,000 which will be disbursed three times at $3,000 each: May, July and October. It’s not exactly a grant to “top up” your lost income since anyone who’s self-employed and earn less than a certain amount can apply for the grant.

Known as Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme (SIRS), it’s administered by NTUC and application is slightly more…complicated.

Unlike the grants for employed people, whereby one can simply show a payslip to prove a drop in income, self-employed people would need more documents, though they’re mainly to show that you’re self-employed.

Why?

Because we all know that the world is not a bed of roses filled with kind people buying food for an elderly and then posting their antics on Facebook, but filled with evil people who didn’t kick community cats only because they’re afraid of going to jail.

Like these four people.

4 S’poreans Arrested for Allegedly Forging Docs to Get $9,000 Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme

Let’s just say that we were just waiting for this news.

Today, it’s reported that four Singaporeans, between the age of 24 and 55, have been arrested on 29 July and 30 July for allegedly making fraudulent applications relating to the self-employed person income relief scheme (SIRS).

According to the police, some of them have been made on behalf of other people.

It’s unknown how they did it, though.

To apply for SIRS, you would need to log in to SingPass. If taxes have been filed for last year, you would need to submit the tax returns, but if you’ve become self-employed recently (which means you won’t have any tax returns last year), you need to provide proof of income as a self-employed person.

There are other documents required as well such as spousal income documents, because you won’t be eligible if your wife earns $10 million a month.

The police also advised members of the public to take the necessary precautions when applying for any grants, and personal particulars such as Singpass account information and other supporting documents should also never be shared with others.

For cheating and forgery for the purpose of cheating, each offence carries an imprisonment term of up to 10 years and a fine.