SINGAPORE — The police are investigating a 63-year-old man for allegedly stealing Budget 2020 grocery vouchers and lodging a false police report.

In a media release on Tuesday (Nov 24), the police said that the incident happened at Kim Tian Place in Bukit Merah.

The man had lodged a police report on Nov 9 claiming that the vouchers belonging to him and his co-tenant were missing.

Preliminary investigations by the authorities showed that the man was believed to have received two sets of vouchers in his letterbox — one each for him and the co-tenant.

With aid of images from closed-circuit television cameras and ground enquiries, officers from the Central Police Division and Clementi Police Division found that the man was suspected to have stolen his co-tenant’s voucher.

He then allegedly lied to his co-tenant that he did not receive the grocery vouchers.

“To prevent suspicion by his co-tenant, the man lodged a false police report, alleging that his set of vouchers had also been stolen and misused,” the police said.

If convicted of theft, the man may be jailed up to three years or fined, or both. If convicted of giving false information to a public servant, he may be jailed up to two years or fined, or both.

The police stressed that their resources could have been put to better use in dealing with real crimes and emergencies instead of looking into false reports or false information.

“Those who lodge false police reports or provide false information will face serious consequences under the law,” they warned.

The latest case follows a string of thefts of the Budget 2020 grocery vouchers, which were issued by the Government to low-income households living in one- and two-room flats.

Late last month, a 46-year-old man was charged with stealing Budget 2020 grocery vouchers from letterboxes in Marine Terrace. 

And in early October, the police arrested four men and three women for stealing the vouchers from letterboxes at various public housing blocks around Singapore. 

The vouchers, announced in the Unity Budget in February, were mailed to 150,000 Singaporeans aged 21 and above this year who live in selected Housing and Development Board flats.

Recipients were to each get grocery vouchers worth S$150 in October, another S$150 worth of vouchers in December and vouchers valued at S$100 in October next year.