PUB technical officer accused of cheating, money laundering
Mohamed Sa'ad Bin Mohamed Ali, 42. Photo: Robin Choo/TODAY
SINGAPORE — A technical officer with national water agency PUB was charged on Friday (July 22) with deceiving his colleagues into approving S$2 million worth of purchases to businesses controlled by him.
Mohamed Sa’ad Mohamed Ali, 42, faces 718 counts of cheating and nine counts of money laundering. His case has been fixed for a pre-trial conference on Aug 18 and his bail has been increased from S$50,000 to S$80,000.
In a press release issued by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), its spokesperson said that Sa’ad had cheated several employees at PUB into believing that he had genuinely sourced for quotations from the open market.
He “dishonestly induced” them to approve the supposedly sourced quotations for various purchase orders.
Worth S$1.98 million, these orders were then awarded to businesses controlled by Sa’ad.
He then spent his ill-gotten gains on a vehicle, an insurance policy and to repay his mortgage loans, among other things.
The majority of his alleged cheating offences took place between 2009 and 2012, said a spokesperson from PUB, adding that they mainly involved “small-value” items that were valued at less than S$3,000.
An internal audit by PUB in the middle of 2012 had discovered anomalies in the small-value purchases of mechanical equipment and general maintenance work at Choa Chu Kang Waterworks. Sa’ad, who joined the agency in 2000, had been supervising the mechanical maintenance work at that water treatment plant since October 2004.
The anomalies were reported to the CPIB in August that same year and the agency suspended him from his duties that month.
PUB chief executive Ng Joo Hee noted that the agency does not tolerate dishonest and fraudulent behaviour by any of its employees or contractors.
Ever since the agency discovered Sa’ad’s alleged cheating offences, PUB had “drastically reduced” the number of small-value purchases by 96 per cent, said Mr Ng.
He added that the remaining number of such purchases is now administered centrally by officers who have no involvement in operational duties.
“All these serve to remove the opportunity for collusion and misrepresentation that Mohamed Sa’ad had exploited,” said Mr Ng.
If convicted of cheating, Sa’ad can be jailed up to 10 years and fined. If convicted of money laundering, he can be fined up to S$500,000 or jailed up to 10 years, or both.
