S$278,200 missing from Hougang United Football Club; employee charged with CBT

SINGAPORE — The Singapore Premier League kicked off on Saturday (Feb 23) with the AIA Community Shield at the Jalan Besar Stadium, but already one of its clubs has found itself in the headlines for the wrong reasons.

Hougang United Football Club, one of nine clubs in the professional football league, has filed a police report against an employee after losing S$278,200 from its coffers.

A female administrative staff member, Tean Tai Tee, allegedly misappropriated the sales revenue from the clubhouse between Nov 29 and Dec 11 last year. Tean, 25, was subsequently arrested by the police and charged in court on Dec 16 with criminal breach of trust.

The case will be heard again in court on March 12.

When contacted, Hougang United general manager Matthew Tay confirmed that the club lodged a police report, but declined further comment.

Responding to queries from TODAY, a Football Association of Singapore (FAS) spokesperson said on Sunday: "The Football Association of Singapore is aware of this matter and had raised various inquiries with the Club.

“A police report had been made, and the police have also arrested a Club staff in connection with this matter.”

The missing funds were reported to be from the club’s jackpot operations, which had previously been reported to have seen surpluses of over S$2 million annually.

National football governing body FAS is also seeking clarifications from Hougang United on its financial governance with regard to this matter, TODAY has learnt.

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Six of the nine league clubs currently run jackpot machines at their clubhouses: Albirex Niigata, Balestier Khalsa, Geylang International, Home United, Hougang United and Warriors FC.

Clubhouses with jackpot operations came under scrutiny in April 2017 when three local football clubs — Hougang United, Tiong Bahru Football Club (TBFC) and Woodlands Wellington — were raided by the police.

This was prompted by Sport Singapore filing a police report against National Football League side TBFC for suspected misuse of club funds and a purported attempt by a senior club official to obstruct the completing of audits of the league’s sit-out clubs.

TBFC and Hougang chairman Bill Ng and his wife Bonnie Wong, former FAS general secretary Winston Lee and former FAS president Zainudin Nordin were subsequently arrested.

Details that emerged from the case also shocked members of the fraternity, as TBFC was found to have earned S$37 million from its clubhouse operations while spending just S$169,000 on its football team.

A subsequent Government crackdown on such facilities saw a fifth of the 82 clubs running jackpot machines affected by tightened regulations announced in July 2017.

The new measures included: Reducing the quota for fruit machines, raising the minimum age for entry to jackpot rooms from 18 to 21 years old and limiting the operations hours of the facilities.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had said in November 2017 that seven clubs did not meet the criteria to operate fruit machines and were given six-month interim permits to wind down their jackpot operations by April last year.

Gombak United Football Club, Tanjong Pagar United Football Club, Singapore Xin Hua Sports Club and TBFC were among the clubs that did not meet that criteria.

Responding to queries from TODAY, an MHA spokesperson said that all clubs with fruit machines are required to open and maintain a separate bank account for these revenues and maintain proper accounting records. "MHA has reminded clubs to ensure robust financial governance and internal controls in relation to fruit machine monies," added the spokesperson.

Clubs operating fruit machines also need to renew their licence annually and Hougang United's current permit is valid till end of October 2019, said the MHA.