Jail for man who cheated BCA to get higher grading for firm so it could bid for bigger projects

SINGAPORE – A freelance consultant created false documents that an accomplice submitted to a government agency in a bid to obtain a higher financial grading for their firm so that it could bid for higher value projects.

According to court documents, Mohamed Barak Lathif, 50, worked with Felicia Low Mun Xin, 34, and Joseph Ang Kok Leng, 52, to cheat the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) in 2020.

Barak was sentenced to four weeks’ jail on Monday after he pleaded guilty to a cheating charge.

Low was also sentenced to four weeks’ jail in March, while Ang’s case is still pending.

In 2016, Ang set up a firm called Lin Interior Design Works, which was renamed LIN ID Group in 2021. He set up another firm called LIN Builders in 2017, and it was mainly involved in construction-related projects.

The prosecution told the court that LIN Builders was formed to complement LIN ID.

Low was a director and shareholder at LIN Builders, as well as the chief accountant for both LIN ID and LIN Builders.

Barak was a freelance consultant from around 2017 for both firms, which he helped on risk assessment and work safety matters, receiving a monthly remuneration of $500.

LIN Builders was registered with a C3 grading in the Contractors Registration System, which the BCA administers for the procurement of construction and construction-related services for the public sector.

In 2019, Low submitted to the BCA an application for LIN Builders to have a C1 financial grading, which would allow LIN Builders to bid for projects and tenders of a higher value.

Deputy Public Prosecutors R. Arvindren and Goh Qi Shuen stated in court documents: “Specifically, at the material time, a C1 financial grading would have allowed LIN Builders to tender for public sector projects with project values of up to $4 million.

“The C1 financial grading would also allow LIN Builders to advertise themselves as being accredited as such by BCA. This would allow LIN Builders to attract more clients and improve the company’s reputation.”

This application was later rejected as LIN Builders did not satisfy one of the prerequisites for the C1 financial grading, namely that the total value of the projects it had worked on in the previous three years should be at least $3 million.

Court documents did not disclose the criteria for a C3 grading at that time.

In 2020, Ang approached Barak and said he wanted LIN Builders to be given the C1 financial grading as he wanted to take part in upcoming tenders, the prosecution said.

Barak replied that he would prepare documents to submit to BCA to create the impression that LIN Builders satisfied the $3 million criterion, and pass them to Low.

The DPPs told the court that Barak knew it was wrong to prepare these false documents for submission to BCA.

Despite this, he prepared false documents pertaining to fictitious projects where LIN Builders was purportedly a subcontractor for two other firms, indicating that LIN Builders was involved in jobs worth more than $3 million for the two firms.

Among other things, Barak prepared a fictitious track record declaration stating that LIN Builders had completed a $2.9 million contract with one of the firms over the building of a multi-storey sub-station between May 2019 and April 2020.

This declaration was supported by a fake subcontractor contract between LIN Builders and the firm.

Low later submitted the false documents Barak prepared to apply to BCA for a C1 financial grading for LIN Builders.

The DPP said that BCA approved LIN Builders’ application for a C1 financial grading in August 2020.

Court documents did not disclose how the offence came to light, but Barak was later charged in court in 2022.

His bail was set at $10,000 on Monday and he is expected to surrender himself at the State Courts on June 9 to begin serving his sentence.

For cheating, an offender can be jailed for up to three years and fined.