SINGAPORE, July 1 — He had voluntarily resigned from his work at Davis Guitar Music Centre, which sells musical instruments, in July last year as he was dissatisfied with the job.

But as he wanted to qualify for a monthly payout of up to S$800 (RM2,470) under the Government’s Covid-19 Support Grant, Benny Ong Hong Beng, 44, forged a retrenchment letter to falsely declare that he had involuntarily lost his job due to the pandemic.

The financial support scheme, meant to help employees who had lost their job or lost income for reasons related to the Covid-19 situation, was announced on March 26 last year as part of the Resilience Budget to deal with the economic and social impact of the coronavirus.

Ong pleaded guilty to one forgery charge on Thursday (July 1), and was subsequently sentenced to 10 weeks in jail.

Court documents did not state what Ong was working as at Davis Guitar before he tendered his resignation letter on July 6 last year. His last day of employment was July 9.

The court heard that Ong came to know of the grant after he had stopped working, and had gone to Bukit Panjang Social Service Office on July 16 to apply for it in person.

To support the application, he provided the forged letter, which he had fabricated on his laptop.

In the letter that carried a fake Davis Guitar letterhead, he wrote: “Due to the recent Covid-19 pandemic and challenging business environment, we regret to inform  you that we have decided to cease your employment.

“Your employment will cease on 9th July 2020 and we sincerely wish you all the best in your future endeavours.”

Ong then inserted the name of his employer, someone called Janet Chiang, at the bottom of the letter to make it appear as though she had written the letter, and signed on it after printing it out.

But Ong’s ruse was uncovered when MSF contacted Ms Chiang thereafter, and she filed a police report.

If Ong was successful, he would have gotten a payout totalling S$2,400 over three months.

When pleading for a lower jail term of five to six weeks for Ong, his lawyer, Mr Just Wang of Bird & Bird LLP, told the court that his client had committed the offence out of “financial pressure and desperation”, and that the act was not fueled by greed or opportunism.

Mr Wang pointed out that Ong had taken a loan from the United Overseas Bank and was facing a real risk of defaulting on it because he could not find alternative employment amid the pandemic.

He added that although the account cannot be corroborated, Ong had wished to withdraw his grant application immediately after handing it in, but he did not know how to. 

Ong also thought that the application would be rejected, and, if he succeeded in getting the grant, he had resolved to return it, Mr Wang said.

Ong could have been jailed up to 10 years and fined for the offence of forgery for the purpose of cheating. — TODAY