SINGAPORE — From event management companies to a cupcake business, a magician-turned-consultant cooked up a plan to help these companies fraudulently claim more than S$1.1 million in cash payouts and bonuses from a government productivity scheme.

On Friday (Nov 23), S Chandran, 37, pleaded guilty to 18 charges under the Income Tax Act. Forty other similar charges will be taken into consideration during sentencing, which will take place on Jan 11 next year.

Chandran, the sole proprietor of the firm Paradize Consultancy, helped 49 applicants submit fake claims under the Productivity Innovation Credit (PIC) scheme.

The amount of cash payouts and bonuses applied for totalled more than S$1.1million, with over S$870,000 disbursed by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras). TODAY understands that this is not the largest amount disbursed fraudulently to date.

In a press release issued in January last year, Iras said it had conducted extensive investigations over the past year on suspicious PIC claims. Many of these claims were linked to Chandran, with around 200 people calling up to assist with Iras investigations, said the authority.

The PIC scheme was introduced in 2010 to encourage businesses here to invest in productivity and innovation. Under the scheme, qualifying businesses are offered cash payouts or tax deductions if they have made investments to boost productivity and innovation, such as spending on staff training, or on automation equipment.

The court heard that Chandran represented himself as a PIC consultant, and reached out to his potential clients through various means such as social media, and by word of mouth.

He also held presentation sessions for individuals and groups as part of outreach efforts. Chandran would describe what services Paradize Consultancy could provide, including creating websites and staff training — both of which were qualifying expenses under the PIC scheme. These services were said to be worth more than S$16,000.

“He then also represented that these could be obtained from (his company) without any payment, and that such services only need to be paid for if the PIC claim was approved,” the prosecution said.

If the claims were approved, Chandran would pocket half the sum.

He would also assist the companies — all of which did not qualify for the scheme — to meet the necessary criteria.

For instance, to meet the criteria of having three local employees, Chandran would direct the applicants to obtain names and NRIC numbers of three individuals to list as employees.

Then, he would make Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions to these three employees.

Ultimately, none of the successful applicants received the services Chandran claimed to provide.

On the 18 proceeded charges Chandran faces, the applicants — most of whom were sole proprietors of the companies involved — will be dealt with separately by the courts.

If found guilty, Chandran could be jailed for up to five years and/or fined a maximum of S$50,000, per charge. He returns to court next year for mitigation and sentencing.