Woman with D7 in English faked O-level cert to apply for preschool principal job
She altered the documents with Microsoft Paint
SINGAPORE — A woman who forged documents to enhance her credentials when applying for the position of preschool principal was sentenced to 2 weeks jail on Thursday (26 January).
According to TODAY, 43-year-old Zhong Anqi Angela pleaded guilty to two charges of forgery, with two similar charges considered during her sentencing.
How was her offence discovered?
To apply for a job at Al-Amin Kindergarten in Tampines, Zhong had submitted a falsified certification letter purportedly issued by the Ministry of Education, and a fake GCE O-level certificate, between August 2018 and July 2019.
She also submitted two additional forged documents, which were taken into account in the charges.
The forged documents were discovered when the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) were unable to verify them..
According to the report, Zhong's falsified MOE certification letter was purportedly issued to Pat's Schoolhouse, but later investigations revealed that she had no employment records with them.
The prosecution said ECDA had also confirmed that such certification letters would be issued to kindergartens, and not childcare centres such as Pat's Schoolhouse.
Forged using Microsoft Paint from document found on Google
TODAY reported that Zhong had obtained a copy of the letter online through a Google search, then used image editing software to amend a copy.
She then printed the forged document and submitted it to Al-Amin.
Zhong also doctored a GCE O-level certificate by using Microsoft Paint to state that she had achieved a B3 in the English Language even though she had sat for the examinations twice and received D7 grades.
It was unclear from court documents when she applied to Al-Amin or whether she had been accepted for the job pending verification checks by ECDA.
Al-Amin submitted an online application on 13 February 2019 to the agency to register the accused as the centre principal of Al-Amin Tampines.
Following discovering the forged documents, ECDA's manager called the police on June 7 of that year.
In his ruling, District Judge Eugene Teo told Zhong that the court had considered her guilty plea and steps to demonstrate responsibility as "significant factors" of mitigation, which included paying over S$5,000 in restitution to her former employer.
According to the defence's submissions, Zhong had worked in the early childhood sector for over a decade.
She had graduated from the Montessori diploma programme, "loved working with children", and was the sole breadwinner for her mother and two children.
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