Sumo Salad employer was fully reimbursed by insurer: MOM

While investigations into an alleged fraudulent work injury claim at Sumo Salad are still underway, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has shared that the company had been covered by a valid insurance policy.

The owner of Sumo Salad, Jane Lee, passed away on Jul. 19, a day after posting on Facebook alleging that a former employee at the company had made a fraudulent workplace injury claim.

Lee believed it was a "carefully orchestrated scheme" to target small businesses without proper insurance coverage.

On Jul. 21, MOM said that they were looking into the case. The police is also conducting investigations into Lee's death.

At a media briefing on Aug. 1, MOM provided updates on the case, while adding that they are unable to disclose further details as investigations are still ongoing.

The alleged accident in question took place on Jun. 6, 2025.

The employer subsequently submitted the work injury accident report to MOM, as is the due process to process any work injury claim and receive reimbursement from an insurer, under the Work Injury Compensation Act (WICA).

On Jun. 26 and 27, the employer's insurer reimbursed them fully for all medical bills and medical certificate (MC) wages submitted up to that point. The employer had also been notified of the reimbursement.

The Work Injury Claim (WIC) claim process has not yet been concluded, MOM added. To date, MOM has not received any indication from the insurer that there is fraud.

In response to a question from the media, an MOM spokesperson also said they have not observed any evidence that there is a "syndicate" activity behind this specific case.

Majority of WIC claims legitimate

Under WICA, employees can make claims and receive compensation for injuries or diseases that happened in the course of work.

Employers are required to buy WIC insurance for all staff doing manual work and non-manual workers earning S$2,600 or less a month.

MOM shared that 28,500 WIC claims are made on average each year from 2021 to 2024 — about half by local workers, and half by foreign workers.

Around 26,800 of these claims (about 94 per cent) have been paid out and compensated by insurers per year over the past three years. The remainder have mostly been directly paid out by employers exempted from buying WIC insurance.

MOM also highlighted that as long as the employer has a valid WIC insurance, they will be reimbursed fully by their insurer for a valid WIC claim.

While an insurer processes a work injury claim, which can typically take about six months, the insurer and the employer can raise objections about the claim. If that happens, the insurer will refer the case to MOM for further investigation.

If an employee is discovered to have made a fraudulent claim, they may be fined up to S$15,000, or jailed up to 12 months, or both.

According to MOM, they receive objections to less than 3 per cent of all WIC claims. Since 2024, insurers have referred about 12 claims suspected of fraud per year for MOM to investigate.

Over the last five years, MOM has prosecuted about two workers per year for fraudulent claims where there was sufficient evidence of fraud. These workers were sentenced to jail terms of between 3 to 13 weeks.

"Ultimately, the vast majority of WIC claims are legitimate, uncontested and covered by insurance," MOM said.

The Migrant Workers' Centre also put up a Facebook post on the matter.

Investigating potential fraud

If any party deems a work injury claim suspicious, investigations may be conducted to establish whether the accident arose out of and during the course of employment.

These investigations could include reviewing the employee's timecards, attendance records, and medical certification.

According to MOM, CCTV footage of the employee appearing to look and behave well after a supposed accident is not strong enough evidence to suggest that the accident had been staged.

In 2019, MOM found a work injury claim to be staged partly based on CCTV footage that showed the employee appearing to be rehearsing and then acting out his purported fall down a staircase.

At the briefing, MOM said that the existence and extent of an injury cannot be determined visually through video footage. It must be medically assessed by doctors through a thorough examination such as an X-ray.

WICA is designed to protect the rights of workers without placing excessive burden on employers, MOM added. There are several levels of safeguards and thorough investigations to deter abuse of the WIC system.

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