Jail for ex-FAS deputy director who duped sports body of over $609k; wife gets discharge
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Rikram Jit Singh Randhir Singh (left) was sentenced to 55 weeks' jail, while his wife Asya Kirin Kames was granted a discharge amounting to an acquittal.
PHOTO: ST FILE
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SINGAPORE – A former Football Association of Singapore (FAS) deputy director, who exploited his position to ensure the organisation’s supply contracts were awarded to companies linked to him or his wife, was sentenced to 55 weeks in jail on Jan 16.
Rikram Jit Singh Randhir Singh had dishonestly induced FAS to disburse $609,380, from which he and his wife, Ms Asya Kirin Kames, made a profit of $127,896.
Rikram, 43, had pleaded guilty on Jan 3 to 15 cheating charges.
Ms Asya, 36, was earlier handed 46 charges, mainly for cheating. On Jan 16, all of her charges were withdrawn, and she was granted a discharge amounting to an acquittal. This means she cannot be charged again with the same offences.
When asked for the reasons behind this move, the Attorney-General’s Chambers told The Straits Times in a statement on Jan 17: “(We) considered all the facts and circumstances of the case, including the fact that (the couple) cooperated fully with the authorities.
“Rikram pleaded guilty to the charges and all profits earned by All Resources Network (ARN) were returned to FAS.”
The couple’s lawyer, Mr Satwant Singh, told ST: “The family is relieved that the matter is over, and they can now move on with their lives.”
In November 2022, Shankar Suppiah, then 45, who was linked to the case, was sentenced to four months in jail
He was then the sole proprietor of ARN, which specialised in event management and the sale of sporting and recreational goods. ARN was a supplier of FAS at the time of the offences.
The case involving another man, Pallaniappan Ravindran, 50, is still pending.
Rikram had met Ms Asya while she was working in the communications department at FAS in 2013.
She then set up ARN after leaving FAS in December that year.
Rikram and Ms Asya spoke frequently as ARN regularly organised or supported FAS events. They soon became romantically involved, and later got married.
In February 2016, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) agreed that FAS would produce and disseminate clappers, stress balls, scroll banners and football scarves.
These would carry NCPG imagery and be distributed at S-League matches and youth outreach programmes.
Rikram managed to convince Pallaniappan, a former colleague, not to wind down an unprofitable company called Myriad Sports & Events so that it could be used as a front to quote for supply jobs.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Thiagesh Sukumaran had earlier said that Pallaniappan agreed to the scheme because of his friendship with Rikram.
In one instance, Pallaniappan submitted a quotation for 130,000 clappers valued at $28,600.
FAS requires procurements valued between $3,000 and $50,000 to have at least three quotations.
To fulfil the requirement, Rikram instructed his subordinate to find two other quotations, even though he had already decided to buy the items from Myriad.
DPP Thiagesh had earlier told the court: “(The subordinate) understood this to mean that she was to create fictitious quotations which were higher than Myriad’s quotations to justify the approval of supply jobs to Myriad.”
On Rikram’s recommendation, the FAS management approved Myriad’s quotations, disbursing $116,335 to it for clappers, stress balls, scroll banners and football scarves between July 2016 and February 2017.
ARN then supplied the items to FAS.
In June 2017, MSF once again engaged FAS to produce clappers, stress balls, banners and scarves with NCPG imagery to be distributed at S-League matches.
In October that year, Ms Asya transferred ownership of ARN to Shankar, who was Rikram’s friend. However, she still controlled ARN and would receive 60 per cent of the firm’s profits.
Rikram instructed Shankar to submit a quotation, prepared by Ms Asya, for the supply of stress balls worth $27,300.
Once again, Rikram instructed his subordinate to find two other quotations. He then recommended ARN’s quotation to the FAS management, which approved it.
By using similar methods, he had dishonestly induced FAS to disburse $609,380 in all.
