‘She Faked Her Injury for Money’: Singapore Woman Dies Day After Alleging Indian Employee Faked Injury for Compensation

Singapore: A woman in Singapore died on Saturday, just a day after she posted allegations on Facebook claiming that an Indian employee had faked a workplace injury to claim compensation.  

The woman, Jane Lee, owned an eatery named Sumo Salad and had shared two detailed posts about the incident, according to Channel News Asia (CNA). Lee, who was in her 40s and a mother of two, died suddenly, prompting an investigation by the Singapore Police Force (SPF). Authorities are treating her death as an "unnatural death."

In her posts a day before she died, Lee accused an Indian worker, Sran Kiranjeet Kaur, of staging an accident to file a false work injury claim for compensation. "I never imagined that someone could act with such deceit simply for the sake of money," Lee wrote, adding that Kaur had approached her seeking employment, and just two days before her contract ended, claimed to have slipped and fallen on an escalator while taking out rubbish.  

Lee alleged that on the day of the incident, Kaur was supposed to leave work early but deliberately stayed back, making it clear to her that the incident was "premeditated," likely to file a fraudulent claim. 

She further claimed that Kaur had orchestrated the scheme with her husband, who is also from India, and with help from a legal firm that, according to Lee, "coaches individuals on how to exploit injury claims for compensation."

In her Facebook posts, Lee said she had video evidence proving Kaur was not truly injured. "I have personally witnessed her moving around normally-- cooking, walking, and functioning without difficulty. 

However, her behaviour changes dramatically in the presence of others, especially doctors, where she exaggerates her condition and limps to feign serious injury," Lee wrote. She added that she had accompanied Kaur to medical appointments and had seen these "deliberate actions."

Lee also warned that Kaur's strategy was to target small business owners. "If they find one without proper insurance coverage, they instill fear and try to extort money," she wrote. 

She claimed that when businesses are insured, such individuals "aim for higher payouts by encouraging more serious injury claims, fabricating permanent disabilities to receive a big lump sum from insurance companies."

In her post, Lee urged the Singapore Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the police to investigate the matter thoroughly, expressing fear that she would not be the last victim and that others could be similarly exploited.

According to CNA, the Ministry of Manpower stated that it is working with the employee’s insurer to "assess the validity of the case." The ministry added that it "will not hesitate to take parties found culpable for abusing the WIC system to task," and encouraged employers to approach MOM if they have concerns about fraudulent claims by employees.

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