3 firms served notices for rigging bids

The competition watchdog yesterday served three companies with legal documents saying that they had illegally rigged their bids in tenders called by Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS).

The three companies - Shin Yong Construction, Geoscapes and Hong Power Engineering - had exchanged information and coordinated their bids for civil and electrical works at WRS' attractions between July 2015 and October 2016, the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) said.

They had submitted bids for projects in Jurong Bird Park, Night Safari, Singapore Zoo and River Safari.

CCCS said it began investigations after receiving a complaint from WRS in April 2016. It issued the three companies with proposed infringement decisions yesterday.

The companies have five weeks to respond.

The companies can use the legal notices to help them in making their representations to CCCS, including possibly applying for leniency, which could see them granted total immunity or having their potential financial penalties reduced in return for information provided to the authority on cartel activities.

CCCS will decide on the penalties to be imposed, which could include fines, at a later date.

Director charged over employment offences

The director of an electrical engineering company has been charged over multiple employment offences, including collecting kickbacks from foreign workers working for him, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said yesterday.

Chen Shiqi, a 54-year-old director of San Tong Engineering, was also charged with illegally employing foreign workers, failing to pay salaries to employees and making false declarations of salaries when applying for work passes for employees.

Chen faces 66 charges and is scheduled to appear in court on Feb 4.

The ministry said investigations against Chen were prompted by salary-related complaints to MOM lodged by foreign workers.