Two firms in Ang Mo Kio corruption case bid for jobs of at least five other town councils

SINGAPORE — The two companies allegedly involved in bribing Ang Mo Kio Town Council’s former general manager Wong Chee Meng regularly bid for town council projects across the island, but it is unclear if they clinched any.

Since Dec 2015, 19-NS2 Enterprise and 19-ANC Enterprise, which do general building, repairs and redecoration works, have participated in tenders called by at least five town councils – Tanjong Pagar, Marine Parade, Chua Chu Kang, East Coast-Fengshan and Bishan-Toa Payoh.

According to information posted online by the town councils and property management firm EM Services, which manages the majority of town councils in Singapore, the two companies submitted bids ranging from S$1 million to S$3.2 million for the town councils’ tenders.

Repair and refurbishment works could involve repainting or refurbishment of corridors or void deck floors.

When contacted, Tanjong Pagar Town Council chairman Melvin Yong and Marine Parade Town Council chairman Lim Biow Chuan confirmed they do not have ongoing business with the two companies.

On Wednesday (March 14), 19-ANC and 19-NS2, as well as their director Chia Sin Lan were charged alongside Wong for corruption.

Wong faces 55 charges of corruptly accepting bribes amounting to about S$107,000 – in the form of meals, entertainment and other perks – from Chia and another director of 19-NS2, Ms Yip Fong Yin.

19-ANC and 19-NS2 were each charged with one count of conspiring with others between 2014 and 2016 to corruptly give Wong gratification to advance their business interests.

Members of Parliament who are town council chairmen said they would wait for the outcome of the court case before deciding whether to work with the companies in future.

During the tender process, bidders typically have to declare any involvement in court cases, they noted.

“We will ask (the companies) to disclose if they have any outstanding court cases. If they do, it will have a bearing on our assessment,” said Mr Baey Yam Keng, chairman of Tampines Town Council.

Tanjong Pagar Town Council’s Mr Yong said its finance and tenders evaluation committee will take into consideration various factors when evaluating bids.

“(These include) any pending cases related to the company which may affect its ability to carry out the required job,” he said.

19-ANC was incorporated in January 2007, while 19-NS2 was incorporated in July 2013, according to documents obtained from the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority.

Chia, Ms Yip and a third person called Tay Eng Chuan are listed as shareholders of 19-NS2.

Chia and Ms Yip are also directors of the company.

It is not known if charges will be brought against Ms Yip or Mr Tay.

When TODAY visited the offices of the two companies — located beside each other near Depot Road — employees said their bosses were not in. They did not want to comment on the ongoing court case, saying that they were unaware of it.

TODAY also visited Chia’s home, but the family declined to comment.

Chia, who represented the two companies in court on Wednesday, and Wong — who was an employee of CPG Facilities Management — will have their cases heard again on April 11.