Singapore: Woman Dies Day After Publicly Accusing Indian Worker Of Faking Workplace Injury For Compensation; Probe Launched

A businesswoman in Singapore, Jane Lee, suddenly died on Saturday, a day after publicly accusing an Indian employee of faking a workplace injury to claim compensation in a social media post. Lee was reportedly in her 40s and is survived by two children.

Lee, who owned a local food outlet, Sumo Salad (now rebranded as Sumo Well), had posted a detailed note on Facebook describing what she believed was a fraudulent scheme.

In her Facebook post, Lee accused that the employee had staged an incident just two days before her employment contract ended.

"Ms. Sran Kiranjeet Kaur, a worker from India, approached me seeking employment. Just two days before her contract ended, she staged an incident—claiming to have slipped and fallen while taking the escalator to dispose of rubbish," the post read.

"On that day, she was supposed to leave work early, but she deliberately stayed back. It became clear to me that the accident was premeditated, likely as an attempt to file a false work injury claim," she added.

She claimed that it was not Kaur's first attempt of trying to claim false injury."Unfortunately, this appears not to be her first attempt. Based on my observations and information I’ve gathered, I believe this was a carefully orchestrated scheme, planned with her husband, Mamu also from India, and potentially with the assistance of a legal firm that coaches individuals on how to exploit injury claims for compensation."

She claimed, she had CCTV footage to prove her allegations, "I have video footage on my phone that contradicts her claim of injury. I have personally witnessed her moving around normally—cooking, walking, and functioning without difficulty. However, her behavior changes dramatically in the presence of others, especially doctors, where she exaggerates her condition and limps to feign serious injury. I accompanied her to several medical appointments and observed these deliberate actions."

"Their apparent strategy is to target small businesses. If they find one without proper insurance coverage, they instill fear and trying to extort money ( screenshot from Palvinder had sent to MOM injury officer Dorathy Teng) from the business owners. If the business is insured, they aim for higher payouts by encouraging more serious injury claims, fabricating permanent disabilities so to receive a big lump sum from Insurance company," the post read.

"I feel extremely unfortunate to have encountered this situation. I am deeply saddened—for myself, my husband, and our dedicated staff—that because of an unfortunate gap in our insurance coverage, we are now being targeted by what I believe to be a fraudulent scheme," she added.

In a seperate post, Lee had urged Singapore police to take congnisance of the matter saying, "I fear that I will not be the last victim, and these individuals may continue to exploit other unsuspecting small businesses in similar ways."

Probe Lauched

The Singapore Police is treating Lee’s death as an “unnatural death” and has launched a probe into the matter. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said it is reviewing the injury claim with the employee’s insurer.

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