Four Charged with Conspiring to Cheat the Football Association of Singapore

On 9 December 2020, four individuals will be charged in court for allegedly committing the following offences:

a) Rikram Jit Singh S/O Randhir Singh (“Rikram”) (a 40-year-old male Singaporean), Deputy Director (Commercial & Business Development), Football Association of Singapore (“FAS”) at the time of the offences;
b) Asya Kirin Binte Kames (“Asya”) (a 33-year-old female Singaporean), Director of All Resource Network (“ARN”) from 20 April 2017 to 1 October 2017. She is the wife of Rikram;
c) Shankar S/O Suppiah (“Shankar”) (a 43-year-old male Singaporean), Director of ARN from 1 October 2017 onward; and
d) Pallaniappan Ravindran (“Ravindran”) (a 47-year-old male Singaporean), Director of Myriad Sports & Events Pte Ltd (“MSE”) at the time of the offences.

2. Rikram is alleged to have conspired with his wife Asya, and in some instances with Shankar, to cheat the FAS. Pursuant to the alleged conspiracy, invoices from ARN had been submitted to the FAS, which dishonestly concealed the alleged fact of Rikram’s involvement in ARN. This alleged dishonesty induced the FAS to award the jobs to ARN, and deliver a sum amounting to $181,875 to ARN between 2017 and 2018. For this, Rikram and Asya will each face 28 charges for offences punishable under Section 420 read with Section 109 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224 (“PC”), and two charges for offences punishable under Section 420 read with Section 116 of the PC.

3. In addition, Rikram and Asya will face a further 15 charges under Section 420 read with 109 of the PC as they have also allegedly conspired, and in some instances with Shankar and Ravindran, to submit quotations from MSE to the FAS, which dishonestly concealed the alleged facts that the works on the said MSE quotations would be carried out by ARN instead of MSE, and of Rikram’s involvement in ARN. This alleged dishonesty induced FAS to award the said works to MSE, and deliver a sum amounting to $457,605 to MSE between 2016 and 2018.

4. Both Shankar and Ravindran will also be charged for their roles in the alleged offences. Shankar will face a total of 28 charges for offences punishable under Section 420 read with Section 109 of the PC, and two charges for offences punishable under Section 420 read with Section 116 of the PC. Ravindran will face a total of fifteen charges for offences punishable under Section 420 read with Section 109 of the PC.

5. The CPIB takes a serious view against corruption and other criminal activities such as cheating. Any person who is convicted of cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code can be sentenced to imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years, and also be liable to a fine.

6. Companies are strongly advised to put in place robust procedures in areas such as procurement and internal audit to prevent falling victim to corrupt or fraudulent acts by their employees. Guidance for companies on measures to prevent corruption can be found in PACT: A Practical Anti-Corruption Guide for Businesses in Singapore, which is available on CPIB’s website. Companies are also strongly encouraged to obtain certification under the Singapore Standard (SS) ISO 37001 – Anti-Bribery Management Systems, which is designed to help companies implement or enhance an anti-bribery management system to reduce corporate risk and costs related to bribery.

Reference Links:

• PACT: A Practical Anti-Corruption Guide for Businesses in Singapore
  

• SS ISO 37001

Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau