An automotive consultant hatched an elaborate plan to buy insurance policies for his mother and then fake her death to obtain payouts and Central Provident Fund (CPF) withdrawals totalling several million dollars.

Abraham Rock, 36, “carried out online research on which insurance policies gave the highest payouts upon the death of the insured and the requisite documents for making a claim”, according to court documents.

He bought insurance policies and travel insurance for his mother Talat Farman, 54, between July 2017 and April last year.

They then went to Pakistan in June last year, where he obtained forged documents falsely stating that she was killed in a traffic accident there.

A district court heard that he made claims totalling more than $3.7 million. Out of this amount, the CPF Board and NTUC Income paid out around $130,000 in total.

Abraham was sentenced yesterday to three years and 10 months in jail after he pleaded guilty to three counts of cheating.

He also admitted to one count each of giving false information to a public servant and fabricating false evidence to be used in a judicial proceeding.

District Judge Christopher Tan sentenced Talat, 54, to 13 months in jail after she pleaded guilty to two cheating charges.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Kenneth Chin said that Abraham was facing financial difficulties in 2017 when he came up with the ruse. He “kept a spreadsheet detailing Talat’s insurance policies and the potential payouts to be obtained from Talat’s purported death”, added the DPP.

He also discussed the plan with his uncle in Pakistan, who agreed to help by checking with his contacts on whether they could provide fake documents to certify Talat’s purported death.

Abraham’s two cousins in Pakistan helped to convey messages between him and his uncle to facilitate the procurement of the fake documents. The three men are still at large.

Abraham and his mother travelled to Islamabad on June 29 last year.

He told her the following month that he managed to obtain the forged documents. She gave him her NRIC and passport before he returned to Singapore alone.

Abraham reported her “death” to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority here.

He then submitted claims to the CPF Board as well as AXA Insurance, MSIG Insurance, Great Eastern Life Assurance and NTUC Income. He also engaged a lawyer to assist in matters pertaining to Talat’s “death”.

On Nov 19 last year, Abraham affirmed an affidavit before a Commissioner of Oaths stating that his mother died on July 5 that year.

DPP Chin said: “When AXA and MSIG received the insurance claims, they hired surveyors to authenticate the claims after discovering irregularities in the documents submitted. It was then discovered that the accused also made similar death benefit insurance claims with other insurers.”

When the surveyors asked Abraham for the burial address of Talat, he gave them the address where his grandmother’s tomb is located, said DPP Chin.

After more discrepancies were uncovered, AXA alerted the police on Nov 13 last year.

Subsequent investigations revealed that Talat was living in Pakistan. Arrangements were then made for her to return to Singapore on Nov 29.

Abraham has made no restitution.

Yesterday, defence lawyer Trent Ng urged Judge Tan to sentence Talat to a maximum of six months in jail, stressing that she had played “an entirely passive role”.

Mr Ng also pleaded for Abraham to be jailed for no more than two years and two months.

“The accused is genuinely remorseful for his acts and accepts that he should have been more thoughtful and discerning in his choices,” he added.

Before sentencing, Judge Tan said that the offences had a “transnational element” and investigations had been difficult.

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