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‘Nothing will be hidden, no one will be spared’ in AMK Town Council probe

SINGAPORE — In the first public comments made by a Cabinet Minister on the anti-graft probe at Ang Mo Kio Town Council (AMKTC), Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam on Friday (Jan 6) made it clear that no one will be spared from investigation into any alleged wrongdoing, and the authorities will deal with the cases openly.

Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law, attends a press conference on the review of the handling of young suspects under criminal investigation, at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Jan 6, 2017. Photo: Koh Mui Fong/TODAY

Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law, attends a press conference on the review of the handling of young suspects under criminal investigation, at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Jan 6, 2017. Photo: Koh Mui Fong/TODAY

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SINGAPORE — In the first public comments made by a Cabinet Minister on the anti-graft probe at Ang Mo Kio Town Council (AMKTC), Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam on Friday (Jan 6) made it clear that no one will be spared from investigation into any alleged wrongdoing, and the authorities will deal with the cases openly.

“This is the essence of how this Government operates ... regardless of who and regardless of the fact that this is the general manager of AMKTC, no town council, no one, nothing will be swept under the carpet,” he told reporters at a press conference on a review of investigation processes for young persons, when he was asked about the AMKTC case.

Last week, the Straits Times reported that AMKTC general manager and secretary Victor Wong had been asked to go on leave by his company, CPG Facilities Management — the managing agent of the town council — after the town council received a complaint about him last September. He was suspended from his posts last November, and is currently under investigation by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB). 

AMKTC chairman Ang Hin Kee was tightlipped when asked for more details and an update when TODAY approached him at his Meet-the-People session on Thursday. Nevertheless, Mr Ang revealed that he was the one who raised the matter to the CPIB after the complaint was filed. 

Mr Shanmugam compared the action taken by AMKTC to the practices of the Workers’ Party (WP)-run Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC), which had been rapped for lapses in governance by independent auditor KPMG. 

“In contrast to the only place where this Government is not in charge, in that one place, first you have people appointing their cronies to run the town council. You have town councillors being misled on the terms that these cronies were appointed,” he said. “Transparency? Investigations? Their own auditor’s report says they refuse to give information on the conflicts of interest.”

The system has to be clean, stressed Mr Shanmugam. Instead of hiding “every step of the way”, the way to handle things is to be upfront, disclose all information, and let the law take its course, he said. “You look for clean people but sometimes people fall prey to temptation.

You cannot prevent that ... but you must have a system that must correct itself, investigate ... and doesn’t hide,” he added.

In response to media queries on Mr Shanmugam’s comments, the WP noted that since the AMKTC case is under investigation, “we should let due process take its course and not jump to conclusions”.

Referring to KPMG’s report on their town council’s finances last July, the WP said that it ordered a full check on the manual journal entries — amounting to over S$60 million worth of payments — and dummy code issues. 

“Some people jumped prematurely on the possibility of fraud and fictitious payments without waiting for the results of the audit. When no fraud and fictitious payments were found, the speculators kept quiet,” said the WP, without citing names. It added: “Premature speculation, especially when done by influential people, may pervert the course of justice by shaping investigations. So let’s wait for the findings of the CPIB on the AMKTC case and let the law take its course.” ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FARIS MOKHTAR

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