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A 31-year-old Singaporean man, Gay Kah Leong, was sentenced to 13 months' jail for cheating offences.

The police said in a news release that Gay was convicted in court on Jan. 27, 2023 with one count of cheating and two counts of attempted cheating.

Three other charges were taken into consideration for the purpose of sentencing.

Gay will surrender himself and begin his sentence on Mar. 10, 2023.

Tried to cheat IRAS into giving him JSS pay-outs

Gay, who is the operations manager of Kings Spa, tried to cheat the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) into disbursing the job support scheme (JSS) pay-outs.

The JSS, which is administered by IRAS, was launched by the government during the Covid-19 pandemic and offered wage support to employers so they could retain their local employees.

Between Jul. 20, 2020 and Aug. 20, 2020, Gay had submitted false declarations and employment documents to IRAS, attempting to cheat IRAS into disbursing JSS pay-outs totalling S$50,326 in respect of 36 individuals.

These persons were either falsely declared as having worked for Kings Spa or having received a certain amount of salary.

These false declarations and false employment documents had been submitted to IRAS as part of a JSS self-review which Kings Spa had been selected to perform.

No disbursement was made as inconsistencies had been detected in the information provided.

Cheated MSF into disbursing him cash grant

On Apr. 7, 2020, Gay had cheated the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) into approving a temporary relief fund (TRF) application for himself.

The TRF, which was similarly launched during the pandemic, is a scheme that offers financial support to Singaporeans who suffered job loss or income loss.

On his TRF application form, Gay falsely declared that he had lost at least 30 per cent of his personal income as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He thereby deceived MSF into disbursing the one-time cash grant of S$500 to him.

Gay has since made full restitution to MSF, the police said in its news release.

Others involved in the same case were also convicted

Seven other individuals were also earlier convicted for their roles in the same case.

They are:

• Tan Zhong Lin, Deidrea (Sentenced to seven weeks' jail on Jul. 14, 2022)
• Liang Wei Jie (Sentenced to three months' jail on Oct. 27, 2022
• Koh Yong Hai, Ady (Sentenced to one month's jail on Nov. 9, 2022)
• Danny Ho Wai Hong (Sentenced to two months' and one week's jail on Dec. 2, 2022)
• Loo Yi Ming (Sentenced to one month's jail on Dec. 2, 2022)
• Yeo Joey  (Sentenced to two months' and one week's jail on Dec. 2, 2022)
• Choo Yong Soon (Sentenced to one month's jail on Jan. 26, 2023)

Court proceedings against three remaining accused persons are ongoing.

Top photo via Getty Images.