Student care centre under investigation for wrongful subsidy claims
TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) has taken action against a student care centre for multiple wrongful claims for fee subsidies, and has referred the case to the Commercial Affairs Department — the second such incident this year.
Impresario Learning Lab’s alleged wrongful claims for government subsidies were uncovered during a recent audit by MSF, which declined to comment on the sum involved citing the ongoing police investigations.
Based on the ministry’s record, there were 14 children enrolled in Impresario in June, 12 of whom are receiving fee subsidies.
The ministry said in a statement on Tuesday (Aug 23) that it has served a notice of intention to Impresario to revoke its status as a government student care fee assistance administrator. Impresario has 14 days to submit an explanation regarding the alleged wrongful claims. TODAY’s attempts to reach the sole proprietor of the centre, Mr Shaik Ismail, were unsuccessful.
The MSF said the centre can continue operating as it has not identified any concerns with the safety or well-being of the students. But Impresario is barred from administering the government student care fee assistance for new students. “MSF will monitor the centre’s subsidy claims closely during this period, and require the centre to work with us to ensure that the claims are properly carried out,” it said, adding that parents of children enrolled there have been notified of the situation and given assistance.
In June, the MSF announced that it had stripped another student care centre, Welcare, of rights to administer the student care fee assistance from Aug 1. The centre had been placed under probe in March for multiple instances of wrongful claims.
Last year, two directors of the Sweetlands Childcare centres were stripped of their positions as Approved Persons, after an audit found that they had allegedly made unauthorised withdrawals from the Child Development Accounts (CDA) of several children.
Mr Ho Boon Hong and Mdm Chan Chew Shia were also alleged to have made wrongful claims for childcare subsidies from the Government.
Approved Persons are authorised persons of approved institutions registered with the ministry, and are allowed to make deductions from CDAs for the payment of childcare and related fees.
