Events organiser admits he conspired to inflate expenses of Hari Raya light-up

SINGAPORE — The manager of an events organising firm on Monday (May 9) admitted to conspiring to cheat three statutory boards of almost S$189,000, by inflating the expenses of the annual light-up in Geylang Serai during Ramadan and Hari Raya Puasa celebrations in 2011 and 2012.

Salleh Sam, a 50-year-old Singaporean, is the second person to plead guilty in this case. Apart from three counts of falsely inflating expenses for the annual festive affair, Salleh also pleaded guilty to a fourth charge of managing a firm while he was an undischarged bankrupt.

His conspirator Gazaly Malek, 60, a former manager of the Majlis Pusat Singapura (MPS) — the Malay-Muslim non-profit organisation in charge of the annual light-up — was on Monday jailed 20 weeks for the same set of cheating offences.

Another two co-accused persons who used to hold key appointments in MPS — former secretary-general Saharudin Kassim and former finance secretary Abdul Ghani Tahir, are claiming trial.

The court heard that between 2011 and 2012, Salleh was the manager of two sole proprietorships that his wife owned: MCC Events & Production and 7M Natural Sources. During those years, the annual decorative lighting event was expanded to include a full 40 days of cultural performances and celebratory activities.

MPS applied for funding from government-linked agencies such as the Singapore Tourism Board, the Tote Board, the National Population and Talent Division, and the then-Ministry of Community, Youth and Sports. In its submissions to these agencies, MPS claimed costs from MCC and 7M, among other entities

Salleh was approached by his friend Saharudin to provide the decorative lighting services and he accepted the task. Shortly after he started work on the 2011 light-up, Saharudin allegedly prepared invoices that overstated expenses previously listed in Salleh’s original set of bills.

Salleh agreed to the inflated amounts because it would allow him to pay his own sub-contractors, the court was told.

In its request for funds from the Singapore Tourism Board that year, MPS claimed S$882,270, which was close to 50 per cent more than what it was due. For the light-up in 2012, MPS again made inflated claims attributed to MCC and 7M — of about 23 per cent more than the amount due (S$319,080 instead of S$259,840).

Calling for a sentence of 20 weeks, in line with that imposed on Gazaly, the prosecution stressed that considerations in safeguarding the administration of public monies call for a deterrent penalty.

Their scheme was “meticulously planned”, and Salleh had agreed to be involved in it for a second year, the prosecution, led by Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Gordon Oh, said.

Salleh’s “buy-in” as a vendor was what made it “particularly difficult” for the funding agencies to detect falsehoods in the invoices, DPP Oh said.

Salleh’s defence lawyer is expected to make his mitigation case on Tuesday.