5 months, 10 weeks jail for 34 yo woman who faked documents to withdraw from CPF account

SINGAPORE: A woman who handed in documents with a forged doctor’s signature as well as other falsehoods in order to withdraw money from her Central Provident Fund (CPF) account received a sentence of five months and 10 weeks of jail time earlier this week.

Thirty-four-year-old Nasuha Zakaria, who had previously claimed in the documents she submitted to the authorities that she was suffering from a respiratory illness, pleaded guilty on Tuesday (Aug 12) to one count of forgery and two counts of theft. She faced a total of seven charges in all. The other charges were taken into consideration by the judge for her sentencing.

In January 2021, Nasuha submitted two documents to the CPF Board, applying under a scheme that would have allowed her to withdraw $5,000 or even more.

The first was supposedly issued by the Singapore General Hospital. It was a memo that said she had a respiratory disease. The second was also a memo that purportedly came from another doctor from the hospital, certifying that she was suffering from the disease.

Nasuha had handed in these documents as proof that she needed money for medical reasons, as she hoped to withdraw money from her CPF account, according to a report in Lianhe Zaobao.

When her documents were being verified, irregularities were found by the CPF Board, specifically in the part that contained the doctor’s signature.

When the staff of the CPF Board reached out to Singapore General Hospital to confirm the authenticity of the documents, they were told by the hospital that no doctor had signed them.

Upon being questioned, Nasuha admitted to having forged the signatures on the documents, as she wanted to expedite the process to hasten the withdrawal from her CPF account.

It was noted by the prosecution that while no money had been stolen from the CPF Board, actions such as those committed by Zakaria threatened its responsibility to safeguard members’ long-term financial security, and therefore recommended a strong deterrent.

“CPF is a government body and this is a situation where the public confidence is at stake,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Nivethaa Ravintharan.

Other news reports pointed out that Nasuha committed theft twice in January. In the first incident, she entered an unlocked office and stole an iPad and two laptops, with a total value of S$4,500. One of the stolen items was later found through an iPhone tracking app, which indicated that it could be found at Nasuha’s home address.

In the second incident, she took advantage of a store in Lorong 11 Geylang, taking $800 cash and a mobile phone from a counter when it was unattended. She was also previously penalised for another theft and abetment of cheating. /TISG

Read also: SCAM check: All calls from CPF Board now come from only one number: 6227 1188