Taxpayers scammed of $40 million in Smart Nation Singapore, accountability not an issue

I refer to “Suspected syndicate members behind S$40m bogus SkillsFuture claims charged”.  Today

As usual, the ‘news’ only focused on the criminals and SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) propaganda.  Senior management at SSG will not be held accountable for 40 million in tax dollar losses.

This should not surprise anyone as even billion-dollar losses by Temasek and GIC are non issues.

Whoever was in charge must have been sleeping on the job as the same players involved have been submitting million$ in claims every month.

Wasn’t this a stupid mistake, totally preventable?  Of course.  A look at the numbers confirms this.

In February this year, “SSG uncovered a case of 4,400 Singaporeans making fake claims amounting to some S$2.2 million for a single course”.  On average, claims amounted to $500 per person ($2.2 million divided by 4400).

Assuming an average claim of $500 per person, Ky and Lin must have submitted claims on behalf of 80,000 residents.

Why did SSG not bother to conduct any background checks on KY and Lin and other companies involved.  Because only Ah Kong money involved?

Statutory board** SSG was set up only last year and it’s really a shame that in less than a year, it has lost 40 million in tax dollars.

SSG CEO Ng Cher Pong is a jack of all trades civil servant.  Ng was Dy Secretary at MOE since 2010 before his promotion to SSG CEO.  Clearly, he must be rather inept and should commit hara kiri.

But under PAP’s policy of zero accountability for elites, this is never going to happen.

SSG said on Tuesday that it has taken “immediate actions to tighten its processes, which include implementing fraud analytics, while conducting a comprehensive review of the system”.

Why was the process of not getting scammed of $40 million not in place earlier?

As usual, PAP has allowed SSG to own self check own self by forming a “Process Review Committee comprising SkillsFuture Singapore board members“.  But aren’t these the same bloody incompetent people who had allowed SSG to be scammed?  No independent parties in Singapore or will investigations reveal embarrassing lapses by Ng and company?

Perhaps Singaporeans should not have a blame culture.  Just take the “largest defraudment of a public institution to date” to be yet another lesson learnt.

It appears that self labeling Singapore as one smart nation with many smart ideas has become a joke.
Unless being scammed of $40 million is one of PAP’s ideas? 😉

**
It appears that SSG was set up to create million-dollar posts for incompetent/unqualified PAP elites.  Without such ‘job creation’ by PAP, senior civil servants would have to hentak kaki in their careers.  There is little demand for their ‘skillsets’ in the non-PAP private sector.