WP responds to Shanmugam's comments comparing AMK Town Council case to AHTC

SINGAPORE — The Workers' Party (WP) has responded to comments made by Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam comparing the Ang Mo Kio Town Council's (AMKTC) handling of the case involving its general manager to the practices of the WP-run Aljunied-Hougang Town Council, which had been rapped for failures in governance by independent auditor KPMG last year.

Earlier on Friday (Jan 6), he had said: "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." 

AMKTC's 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 in November last year, and is currently under investigation by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB). Mr Shanmugam had made it clear that no one will be spared from investigation, once an allegation has been made. 

The WP released a statement on Friday afternoon in response to Mr Shanmugam's comments. Here is their statement in full:

"Since CPIB is investigating the AMKTC case, we should let due process take its course and not jump to conclusions.

When the July 2016 report by KPMG on AHTC came out, AHTC ordered a 100% check on the $60m direct journal entry 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.

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."