The Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) has detected two cases of document forgery in relation to the Income Subsidy of the government. The persons involved have allegedly committed the offences of document forgery and fraud under the Penal Code, and the amount of money involved exceeded MOP700,000 and MOP200,000 respectively. The relevant investigation has been completed and the cases have been referred to the Public Prosecutions Office.
It was discovered that between 2009 and 2014, the owner of a property management and cleaning company, when applying for the Income Subsidy on behalf of his employees, submitted false information to the Financial
Services Bureau (DSF) by understating the wages and overstating the working hours of the employees. Allegedly he also faked their personal data in an attempt to fraudulently obtain the supplementary allowance amounting over MOP700,000.
In another case between 2012 and 2015, the president of a property administration committee intentionally understated the wages of employees and named part of the wages as “allowance and bonus,” which was paid separately on a different date in order to conceal their actual incomes. The president was therefore able to receive, by fraudulent means, more than MOP200,000 through the subsidy.
The government implemented the “Temporary Measures for the Income Subsidy” in January 2008, aiming to subsidize permanent residents with low income.
According to these measures, employees that work a minimum number of hours per week and do not have a quarterly income that surpasses the stipulated amount are eligible for application of the subsidy.
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