Director bribed dorm operator for catering contract to feed foreign workers during COVID

Singapore

S11 Granuity Management eventually terminated the contract with Dhanu Shri Restaurant & Catering because of late deliveries and spoilt food.

View of the S11 Dormitory @ Punggol in Singapore on Apr 17, 2020. (Photo: AFP/Roslan Rahman)

SINGAPORE: When the COVID-19 pandemic struck Singapore in full force in 2020, a "circuit breaker" was put in place to curb infection and foreign workers were isolated in dormitories.

While the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) initially provided food for the workers in a dormitory in Punggol, run by S11 Granuity Management (S11), MOM told S11 by July 2020 that it would cease providing food for the dorm residents.

But when S11 began looking for its own caterers, the deals turned corrupt, with money being exchanged for contracts.

The director of one caterer, Dhanu Shri Restaurant & Catering, was sentenced to one week's jail this month for conspiring with his employee to give bribes to S11 employees for his catering business interests.

According to a judgment made available on Saturday (Oct 14), Muhammad Riyaas Alaadin pleaded guilty to one count under the Prevention of Corruption Act, with a similar charge taken into consideration.

According to court documents, S11 provided accommodation for foreign workers and ran several dormitories in Singapore, including Punggol Dormitory.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the dormitory was "locked down" from April 2020, the judgment stated.

To ensure the smooth running of the dorm during the pandemic, S11 set up a crisis management team which included co-accused Rishibaraj Mohan, a dorm manager, and Duraisamy Jaganathan, a dormitory isolation assistant.

When MOM informed S11 that it was going to stop providing food for the Punggol dorm residents, S11 first tried using a managing agent, but the appointed caterers could not cope with the volume of food.

Eventually, S11's business development director decided to engage other external caterers from July 2020.

Rishi made posts on Facebook and Instagram seeking caterers. Riyaas' employee, Saifulislam Abdul Ghani, a sales representative, knew Rishi and saw the post.

He asked Rishi about the catering opportunity and said he would pay Rishi S$300 (US$220) to S$400 a month if Rishi could help secure the catering contract for the dormitory.

Instead, Rishi asked for a cut of Saiful's commission from the food packages.

Saiful discussed this request with Riyaas. Riyaas knew that getting the contract would be beneficial for his business and that he might not get it if Rishi did not get a cut of Saiful's commission.

Saiful's commission was S$10 per food package, but Riyaas suggested that Saiful lie that his commission was only S$5 per package.

This way, they could get the contract with Rishi receiving a smaller cut of Saiful's commission.

Eventually, both sides struck a deal for Saiful to pay 40 per cent of his supposed commission, or S$2 per food package to Rishi in order to get the contract with S11.

S11 later awarded the catering contract to Dhanu Shri. Saiful received his full commission from Riyaas at S$10 per food package.

In August 2020, Saiful transferred S$746 to Rishi.

However, S11 terminated the contract with Dhanu Shri as there were several instances of late deliveries and spoilt food.

Rishi had pleaded guilty to his role and was given 10 days' jail, along with a penalty order of S$746.

Saiful similarly pleaded guilty and was given 16 days' jail.

The prosecution asked for a short jail term for Riyaas, while defence lawyer Riyach Hussain asked for a high fine of S$18,000 to S$20,000 instead.

He said his client did not deserve an imprisonment term because his role was very limited, as the bribe was initiated by Saiful and his involvement was only after discussions between Saiful and Rishi had concluded.

The judge said Riyaas was the director of Dhanu Shri and Saiful was a mere sales representative, so Saiful clearly took instructions from Riyaas.

He was not the bit player that Mr Riyach made him out to be, said the judge.

Riyaas will be appealing against his sentence and is out on bail pending appeal.