Preschool director charged with cheating ECDA into disbursing S$14,000 in childcare subsidies

Preschool director charged with cheating ECDA into disbursing S$14,000 in childcare subsidies Hoo Sian Chin, the director of Lighthouse Educare, is also accused of falsifying children's attendance records at the preschool. SINGAPORE: A director of a preschool allegedly deceived the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) into disbursing more than S$14,000 (US$10,800) in childcare subsidies and falsified the enrolment and attendance information of several children. Hoo Sian Chin, a 46-year-old Malaysian and Singapore permanent resident, was charged on Wednesday (Jun 24) with six counts of cheating and four counts in relation to the falsification of records. Hoo was the director of Lighthouse Educare during the alleged offences committed between November 2017 and January 2020. He is accused of deceiving ECDA into delivering childcare subsidies to Lighthouse Educare – ranging from S$300 to S$7,400 – for children purportedly enrolled at the school. He is also accused of instigating someone named Gu Wenhui to make false entries by falsely recording a child's attendance in the preschool's records for the period between July 2018 and October 2018. In March 2019 and February 2020, Hoo allegedly made false entries on his own while recording the attendance of children in the company records. He did not indicate how he would plead, but asked for time to seek legal advice. The case was adjourned to July. If convicted of cheating, he could be jailed for up to 10 years and fined. If convicted of falsifying records as an officer, he could be jailed for up to 10 years or fined, or both.