Singapore—A man named Abraham Rock is facing multiple charges for falsifying his mother’s death certificate as he tried to collect over S$3.7 million from insurance companies. He actually succeeded in getting over S$80,000 from his mother’s CPF account.
Both Mr Rock and his mother, who is very much alive are facing charges along with her son, who appeared in court on Friday, April 12.
Mr Rock claimed that Talat Farman, his mother, perished in a traffic accident along Ring Road, near Kohat Bridge in Peshawar, Pakistan, on July 5, 2018; and sought to claim from insurance policies from the following companies: AXA, Great Eastern Life Assurance and MSIG, handing in a death certificate, as well as police and medical reports.
Court documents show that Mr Rock, his mother, and three other men conspired to fake Mrs Farman’s death.
By July 17th, Mr Rock handed in a police report from Bhana Mari Police Station to Great Eastern Life, where his mother had policies under Prestige Term Plus life and Great Protector insurance for $1 million each.
He also filed for a personal accident insurance claim amounting to S$60,000, and a life insurance claim of S$71,998.86, also with Great Eastern Life.
Along with the ‘police report’ Mr Rock also handed in a medical report and a death certificate from Lady Reading Hospital in Pakistan, along with a copy of an invoice for the marble plate for his mother’s burial.
He also made claims with AXA and MSIG on the same day. He had already filed a claim with NTUC income two days before.
However, when the insurance companies made their own investigations in Pakistan, it was discovered that Mr Rock’s documents had been falsified, as Mrs Farman’s tomb could not be found during the course of the investigations.
Mr Rock has now been charged with eleven counts including engaging in a conspiracy to commit cheating, giving false information, making a false statutory declaration and providing false evidence.
His mother, who is also a Singaporean citizen, faces five charges, including engaging in a conspiracy to cheat.
However, Mr Rock had already begun to profit from his fraudulent claims. Last year he received a payout of S$49,000 from insurer National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) under its Dependent Protection Scheme, in addition to S$80,331.23 disbursed from his mother’s CPF account.
Noting discrepancies in the supporting documents that he provided, the other insurance firms looked into his claims. And by November 13, 2018, a police report had been filed by AXA.
Mr Rock was arrested a week later by officers from the Commercial Affairs Department. His mother was sent from Pakistan to Singapore because of the charges filed against her.
If found guilty of conspiracy to commit cheating, Mr Rock could go to jail for as long as 10 years, plus be given a fine. If mother and son are found guilty of making a false statutory declaration, they could be jailed for as long as 7 years. And, a conviction for giving false information could cause an individual to face a jail term of up to a year, fined up to S$5,000, or both.
Mr Rock and Mrs Farman are represented by Ravinderpal Singh and will be back in court on May 10.