SINGAPORE: Four men allegedly ran a scheme to deceive Sultan Mosque by submitting fake quotations for a digitalisation project in order to make a company’s bid appear more attractive.
The quartet – Mohamad Daud A Rahim, Mohd Nasir Mohd Sairi, Mohd Nasral Awang and Mohd Zairil Ismail – were charged on Tuesday (Dec 31).
Daud, 60, was the director of Qirom Consulting. He is accused of instigating Nasir, 59, and Nasral, 44, to issue fake quotations from their respective companies.
Sometime in August and September 2022, Nasir, the director of Fatiin Multimedia, allegedly falsified a quotation for S$24,900. He purportedly knew that Fatiin did not intend to undertake the digitalisation works.
Nasral, the director of Onaga Sys, is accused of doing the same with a fake quotation for S$56,000 in October 2022.
Daud then allegedly submitted the fake quotations to a finance and human resource manager of Sultan Mosque.
He is suspected of doing this to deceive Sultan Mosque into believing that Qirom’s quotation for the digitalisation project was competitive, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said in a press release.
Daud faces two charges of abetting the falsification of accounts and two charges of corruption. Nasir and Nasral were each given a charge of abetting the falsification of accounts.
The fourth man, Zairil, 53, was a senior manager with the Mosque-Madrasah-Wakaf Shared Services.
This is a committee formed by the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) to provide common financial and administrative functions for the sector.
In June 2023, Zairil came under internal investigation by MUIS.
During the probe, he allegedly lied to a MUIS deputy director that he did not have any personal or financial interest in Qirom, and had never received any payment from Qirom.
Zairil faces a charge of giving false information to a public servant, knowing it would likely cause the deputy director to cease further investigations into his connections to Qirom.
Separately, around Sep 5, 2023, Zairil allegedly had pepper spray without a licence. He faces one charge under the Arms and Explosives Act for this.
Corruption is punishable with a jail term of up to five years, a fine of up to S$100,000, or both.
The penalty for falsifying accounts is imprisonment for up to 10 years, a fine, or both.
For giving false information to a public servant, an offender can be jailed for up to two years, fined, or both.
“Organisations are strongly advised to put in place robust procedures, in areas such as procurement and internal audit, to prevent falling victim to corrupt acts by their employees,” CPIB said.
