A former Indian-born vice-chairman of the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) has pleaded guilty to 15 charges of fraud relating to the provision of goods to sporting bodies through a company he owns.
A further 30 similar charges will be considered in the sentencing of Rikram Jit Singh Randhir Singh, 43. The defendant abused his position to secure supply contracts for sports organizations to companies associated with him and his wife.
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The Singaporean admitted on Wednesday that he fraudulently induced FAS to spend S$609,380, from which he and his wife Asha Kirin Kames received S$127,896. He said he made a profit of $1.
Their profits will be seized by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) and returned to the FAS, the court said.
Rikram joined FAS in December 2010 as Marketing Manager and rose through the ranks to become Deputy Director in July 2017.
FAS is responsible for the development and development of football in Singapore and is part-funded by Sport Singapore, a statutory board under the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth.
The defendant met Asha, 37, in 2013 when she was working in FAS’ communications department.
He left FAS in December of the same year and founded All Resource Network (ARN), a company specializing in event management and sports and recreation equipment sales.
Rikram and Asya spoke frequently as ARN regularly organizes or supports FAS events. They soon became romantically involved and got married in February 2018.
In February 2016, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and the National Council on Gambling Problems (NCPG) agreed for FAS to manufacture and disseminate claps, stress balls, scroll banners and soccer scarves.
Mr. Rikuram persuaded his former colleague Palaniappan Ravindran, 51, not to downsize his unprofitable company, Myriad Sports and Events. You can then use that as an excuse to quote a supply job and pass it on to the ARN.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tyagesh Sukumaran said Mr Ravindran had agreed to the plan because of his friendship with Mr Rikulam, but he did not know who the actual suppliers would be.
In one instance, Mr. Ravindran submitted a quote for 130,000 clapboards worth S$28,600.
FAS requires at least three quotations for procurements worth between S$3,000 and S$50,000. To meet the requirements, Rikram instructed his subordinates to find his two other quotations, even though he had already decided to purchase the goods from Myriad.
Mr Chiagesh of the Democratic Progressive Party said he understood this to mean creating a fictitious quote that was higher than Myriad’s estimate in order to justify approving the supply job to Myriad.
Following Mr. Likram’s recommendation, FAS management approved Myriad’s quotation for 116,335 yen for the clapboards, stress balls, scroll banners and football scarves from July 2016 to February 2017. Paid Singapore dollars to Myriad.
The funds were handed over to the defendant and ARN supplied the goods to FAS.
Based on the charges advanced, Rikram worked with Asha and Ravindran to defraud FAS into paying an additional S$287,300 to Myriad between October 2017 and October 2018.
In June 2017, MSF once again collaborated with FAS to create clapboards, stress balls, banners and scarves featuring images of the NCPG to be distributed at S-League matches.
In October of the same year, Asha transferred ownership of ARN to Rikuram’s friend Shankar Sapir, 47. She was planning to marry the defendant and she did not want FAS to know of their conflict of interest.
However, Asha still controls ARN and will receive 60% of the company’s profits.
Mr Rikram instructed Mr Shankar to submit a quotation prepared by Mr Asha for the supply of stress balls worth S$27,300.
Once again, he instructed his subordinates to find the other two quotes. He then recommended his ARN to his FAS management, who approved it.
The court said Rikram worked with Asha and Shankar to deceive FAS into paying an additional S$58,100 for the supply of clapboards and banners.
Their crimes came to light in January 2019 when CPIB received information that Rikuram had misappropriated funds from FAS.
Tyagesh of the Democratic Progressive Party said a subsequent independent audit of FAS found that ARN did not pay above market prices for the items it supplied.
Therefore, FAS did not suffer any significant losses. The broadsheet quoted the DPP as saying that all the work estimated by Myriad and ARN had been completed.
The Democratic Progressive Party called for a sentence of 24 to 30 months in prison for Mr. Likram, arguing that his crimes included the misuse of public funds and that his position as a deputy director would make it difficult to expose him.
Defense lawyer Satwant Singh asked for a shorter sentence of nine to 12 months, saying his client had not misused the funds and the purpose had been served.
Shankar pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud and was sentenced to four months in prison in November 2022.
According to Singapore Daily, Asha and Ravindran’s case is still pending.