Close to 4,000 people who received payouts from the Temporary Relief Fund (TRF) have since returned the money.
Minister of State for Social and Family Development Sam Tan told Parliament yesterday that his ministry is working closely with the police to investigate fraudulent claims.
He was replying to Ms Cheng Li Hui (Tampines GRC), who asked if there were penalties for applicants who made "wrong declarations", or those who realised their errors and returned the monies.
Reiterating warnings issued by the authorities last month, Mr Tan said abuse of the relief fund is a cheating offence that carries a jail term of up to 10 years and a fine.
"Where individuals returned their cheques or payouts, this will be a mitigating factor in our assessment of fraudulent claims," he added.
As of April 30, when applications for the fund closed, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) received 594,206 applications, with 3,951 individuals returning their payouts.
Last month, MSF said people gave various reasons for doing so.
Some were told they would be laid off or put on no-pay leave, but managed to retain their jobs and salaries, thanks to the Jobs Support Scheme.
There were those who found they had provided wrong information in their applications, and others who decided to return the payout because they wanted it to go to people who needed it more.
Mr Tan said individuals who want to return their cheques or payouts should do so by end-May.
Set up to provide timely financial aid before the start of other assistance schemes, including the Covid-19 Support Grant and Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme, the TRF is for Singapore residents who have lost their jobs or at least 30 per cent of their personal income due to Covid-19.
Eligible applicants are those not on ComCare aid and have a monthly per capita income of $3,100 or less, or gross monthly household income of up to $10,000. The $500 cash grant is for the month of April.
In a written reply to Mr Ang Wei Neng (Jurong GRC), who asked for a breakdown of the number of approved claims and fraudulent ones, Minister for Social and Family Development Desmond Lee said 444,786 applications have been approved as of April 30.
This represents around three-quarters of all who applied.
The main reasons for applications being rejected included applicants not meeting the qualifying criteria of job loss or income loss, or exceeding the qualifying income criteria.
Mr Lee said data on how many ineligible TRF applicants were subsequently provided with aid from ComCare was not readily available.
He added that MSF is investigating all alleged fraudulent TRF applications. "Investigations are ongoing and we do not have a confirmed number of fraudulent cases yet."
