Contractor fined S$15,000 for bribes to condominium manager in exchange for jobs

SINGAPORE: A contractor gave a condominium manager a series of bribes in exchange for contracts for his company.

According to court documents, Panneerselvam Elumalai won a tender to replace tiles for the condominium’s driveway in this manner. 

However, paint started peeling from the driveway barely a week after works were completed, and chips and cracks began appearing soon after. 

The 41-year-old was fined S$15,000 (US$11,600) on Thursday (May 8) after he pleaded guilty to abetting the commission of an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act. 

This was for giving the condominium manager documents that contained false statements relating to offers for tenders, which were to mislead the management council of Parc Life’s Management Corporate Strata Title (MCST). 

Another two charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act were taken into consideration for his sentencing.

Panneerselvam, an Indian national, was the operations director and beneficial owner of Mountec, a company that offered repairs and maintenance services. 

He oversaw Mountec’s day-to-day operations and prepared paperwork such as quotations. 

The condominium manager at the time was Bobby Augustine Andrews. He was employed by the managing agent company Ocean IFM and was attached to Parc Life Condominium from March 2021 to March 2023. 

He took care of day-to-day affairs, which included reporting defects at the condominium and liaising with contractors. The case against Andrews is pending. 

In December 2021, Andrews first contacted Panneerselvam to repair tiles at the swimming pool area of the condominium. He kept in touch with Panneerselvam subsequently. 

Between Jan 20, 2022 and Jan 15, 2023, Panneerselvam gave bribes to Andrews in the form of loans amounting to a total of S$2,950. 

Andrews solicited the loans from Panneerselvam as he faced financial difficulty during this period. 

“In exchange, (Andrews) felt beholden to (Panneerselvam) and would try to influence the management council of Parc Life Condominium’s MCST to award more jobs to Mountec,” Deputy Public Prosecutor Zhou Yang told the court. 

Around January 2023, Panneerselvam told Andrews he was dissatisfied with the “small jobs” and requested “bigger jobs” on a more frequent basis. 

Andrews tried to accede to the request as he was unable to return the loans.  

A few months later, Panneerselvam complained to Andrews about the “hard time” he was having as the management council did not award his company any contracts. He expected Andrews to provide him with a steady flow of contracts.

“(Andrews) knew that (Panneerselvam) had helped him by lending him money, and (Andrews) wanted to repay (Panneerselvam) by awarding Mountec contracts with Parc Life Condominium,” said Mr Zhou. 

TILE REPLACEMENT TENDER 

In February 2022, Andrews told Panneerselvam about a tender to replace tiles at the condo’s driveway. 

He asked Panneerselvam to bid for the tender and recommend two other contractors to hit the minimum of three quotations. 

Wanting Mountec to win the tender, Panneerselvam approached the directors of two other contractors who had no intention of winning the driveway tender.

Panneerselvam asked the two contractor companies – Alpha Engineering and Consultancy and SNP Engineering – to quote higher prices so that Mountec’s quotation would be the lowest and he would secure the tender. 

Panneerselvam submitted the three quotations to Andrews in May 2022, with Mountec’s quotation appearing the lowest. 

Mountec was not awarded the contract as the management council cancelled the job due to budgeting issues. 

However, the tender was reopened in June 2022 for a cheaper type of tile for the driveway. 

Panneerselvam submitted a quotation of S$66,000, within the MCST’s budget of S$67,000, at Andrews’ instruction. 

Andrews had sought S$5,000 from Panneerselvam in exchange, but Panneerselvam did not give the money as promised. 

The tile replacement work for the driveway was carried out in October 2022, but the paint began peeling barely a week after works were completed, and chips and cracks appeared soon after. 

Panneerselvam initially honoured the one-year warranty to rectify defects, but the problems would recur.

In early 2024, Panneerselvam refused to rectify the defects and insisted that the MCST pay him for further repairs. 

The MCST engaged a civil engineer to determine the cause of the defects and is contemplating legal action against Mountec. 

For his offence, Panneerselvam could have been jailed up to five years, or fined up to S$100,000, or both.