PUB officer charged with cheating
Posted 22 Jul 2016 19:05 Updated 22 Jul 2016 19:30
File picture of Singapore currency. (Photo: AFP/Roslan Rahman)
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SINGAPORE: A technical officer with PUB was charged on Friday (Jul 22) for allegedly cheating his colleagues into approving purchase orders worth S$1,981,175 that were awarded to businesses he controlled.
Mohamed Sa’ad Mohamed Ali is accused of misleading multiple employees of the national water agency into believing that he had genuinely sourced for quotations from the open market, thus dishonestly inducing them to approve the quotations for various purchase orders which they would not have done had they not been so deceived, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said in a press release.
According to PUB, its internal audit discovered anomalies in purchases of items less than S$3,000 of mechanical equipment and general maintenance work at the Choa Chu Kang Waterworks in mid-2012. PUB reported this to the CPIB on Aug 3, 2012 and suspended the officer from his duties the same month without pay, it said in a separate press release.
Sa’ad allegedly used the benefits gained from these purchase orders to acquire a vehicle, an insurance policy, a gold certificate, a factory unit and to repay his mortgage loans.
Sa'ad joined PUB in 2000 and has been supervising the mechanical maintenance work at Choa Chu Kang Waterworks since October 2004. He has been charged with 718 counts of cheating and nine counts of money laundering.
“PUB has no tolerance for dishonesty and fraudulent behaviour by any of our staff or contractors," PUB Chief Executive Ng Joo Hee said. "Since our discovery of these alleged cheating offences in 2012, prompt and broad action has been taken to eliminate the future recurrence of similar wrongdoing."
Added Mr Ng: "We have deliberately and drastically reduced the number of small value purchases in PUB, by 96 per cent. Procurement previously done through small value purchases have been combined into aggregated contracts which have to be awarded through open tender. The very small number of small value purchases that remain are now administered centrally by officers who have no involvement in operational duties."
He added that potential suppliers are generated randomly by PUB's computer system, and the segregation of duties rigorously enforced. "All these serve to remove the opportunity for collusion and misrepresentation that Mohamed Sa'ad had exploited,” Mr Ng said.
For cheating, Sa'ad faces up to 10 years' imprisonment and a fine on each charge, and for money laundering, he may be punished with a fine of up to S$500,000, up to 10 years' imprisonment or both for each charge.
- CNA/mz
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/pub-officer-charged-with/2975214.html
Posted 22 Jul 2016 19:05 Updated 22 Jul 2016 19:30
File picture of Singapore currency. (Photo: AFP/Roslan Rahman)
Enlarge
Caption
Email More
A A
SINGAPORE: A technical officer with PUB was charged on Friday (Jul 22) for allegedly cheating his colleagues into approving purchase orders worth S$1,981,175 that were awarded to businesses he controlled.
Mohamed Sa’ad Mohamed Ali is accused of misleading multiple employees of the national water agency into believing that he had genuinely sourced for quotations from the open market, thus dishonestly inducing them to approve the quotations for various purchase orders which they would not have done had they not been so deceived, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said in a press release.
According to PUB, its internal audit discovered anomalies in purchases of items less than S$3,000 of mechanical equipment and general maintenance work at the Choa Chu Kang Waterworks in mid-2012. PUB reported this to the CPIB on Aug 3, 2012 and suspended the officer from his duties the same month without pay, it said in a separate press release.
Sa’ad allegedly used the benefits gained from these purchase orders to acquire a vehicle, an insurance policy, a gold certificate, a factory unit and to repay his mortgage loans.
Sa'ad joined PUB in 2000 and has been supervising the mechanical maintenance work at Choa Chu Kang Waterworks since October 2004. He has been charged with 718 counts of cheating and nine counts of money laundering.
“PUB has no tolerance for dishonesty and fraudulent behaviour by any of our staff or contractors," PUB Chief Executive Ng Joo Hee said. "Since our discovery of these alleged cheating offences in 2012, prompt and broad action has been taken to eliminate the future recurrence of similar wrongdoing."
Added Mr Ng: "We have deliberately and drastically reduced the number of small value purchases in PUB, by 96 per cent. Procurement previously done through small value purchases have been combined into aggregated contracts which have to be awarded through open tender. The very small number of small value purchases that remain are now administered centrally by officers who have no involvement in operational duties."
He added that potential suppliers are generated randomly by PUB's computer system, and the segregation of duties rigorously enforced. "All these serve to remove the opportunity for collusion and misrepresentation that Mohamed Sa'ad had exploited,” Mr Ng said.
For cheating, Sa'ad faces up to 10 years' imprisonment and a fine on each charge, and for money laundering, he may be punished with a fine of up to S$500,000, up to 10 years' imprisonment or both for each charge.
- CNA/mz
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/pub-officer-charged-with/2975214.html
