"Ownself fix ownself". WP is in this predicament because of themselves.

It is a predicament they could have avoided but they chose to blame others, play victim, play political persecution, and they chose to deny that there was anything wrong.

WP SET UP A FLAWED SYSTEM THAT ALLOWED THEIR FRIENDS TO TAKE MONEY FROM THE FRONT DOOR IN BROAD DAYLIGHT.

Their friends sat at the gateway awarding contracts to themselves, and making payments to themselves. All these with the blessings of WP.

When the whistle was first blown on them, they could have put a stop to the flawed system and set right what was wrong. WP chose to let the flawed system persist.

THEY DISREGARDED the duties and obligations imposed on them by the Town Council Act and Town Council Financial Rules.

Indeed their lawyer had argued in court that even if there was mismanagement of funds, nothing could be done except at the ballot box.

IS THAT WHY THEY NEVER BOTHERED to set things right? Because nothing could be done EXCEPT AT THE BALLOT BOX? And they know they can always trust their supporters to vote for them again regardless of anything?

In May 2015, JUSTICE QUENTIN LOH said to them:

"It is clear that there are grave and serious questions that have been raised regarding the state of AHPETC's accounts. If AHPETC were a managing corporation ... I have no doubt that AHPETC or its officers will be exposed to the possibility of civil liability ... or in an extreme scenario, criminal liability. I can only say it is a travesty for AHPETC to have ignored their duties and obligations imposed on them by the Town Council Act and Town Council Financial Rules.They owe a duty and a heavy responsibility to their constituents to run AHPETC properly and it is incumbent on them to put their house and finances in order."

GRAVE WORDS. BUT THEY FELL ON DEAF EARS.
Their own appointed independent auditors blew the whistle on them.

Then AGO raised many serious red flags about their accounts.

Next, KPMG said the failures at AHPETC were systemic and pervasive and included leadership failure at the top.

KPMG also raised the real possibilities of civil and criminal liabilities.

PwC which audited Punggol East accounts when it was under AHPETC came to similar conclusions.

AT EACH STAGE was a chance to put things right.

AT EACH STAGE, WP chose ro deny all allegations.

You can say that for WP, it is a case of "OWNSELF FIX OWNSELF".

WP can certainly thank their ardent supporters for allowing them to fall into this state. They have SUPPORTERS who DO NOT HOLD THEM TO ANY STANDARD OF ACCOUNTABILITY. None. Not even a low standard of accountability. Not one of them questioned WP.

Instead, they were ever ready to deflect from the issues and point fingers at the government, at the PAP. They would bring in Lehman brothers and AIM, talk about the manager from Ang Mo Kio TC (who is already under CPIB investigation), or direct attention to the transport woes and ask when the transport minister was going to commit harakiri. They still do these.

And then they will cheer WP and urge them on in their flawed system with their rousing "jia you!"

AHTC claiming $33 million against Town Councillors for actingin breach of fiduciary duties

Wow, $33 million. That's a huge sum of money.

AHTC has alleged that ALL PAYMENTS IT MADE TO FMSS (its then managing agent) ARE NULL AND VOID because its town councilors had acted in breach of their fiduciary duties.

The town council is claiming up to $33,717,535 against WP chief Low Thia Khiang; town council vice-chairman Sylvia Lim; Ms How Weng Fan, owner of FMSS, for payments made from July... 15, 2011 to July 14, 2015.

The Statement of Claim, filed in the High Court under the direction of the independent panel, alleges that Ms Lim and Mr Low "set up and/or allowed" such a system at the town council, which effectively enabled Ms How and her late husband Mr Danny Loh to be responsible for certifying work done, approving payments and/or signing cheques to FMSS and FMSI to benefit themselves.

In the statement, the town council said Mr Low and Ms Lim had, on or before May 15, 2011, decided purportedly on behalf of AHTC, that Ms How and her late husband Danny Loh would be instructed to set up and incorporate FMSS, which would be appointed as managing agent of AHTC without a tender being called. The decision followed the WP winning Aljunied GRC from the People's Action Party(PAP) in the May 7, 2011 general election.

Besides Mr Low, Ms Lim, and Ms How, other defendants named are WP MP and current town council chairman Pritam Singh; Mr Chua Zhi Hon, a former member of the WP Youth Wing executive committee; and Mr Kenneth Foo, deputy organising secretary of the WP and WP candidate in Nee Soon GRC in the 2015 general election

Ms Lim, Mr Chua and Mr Foo were members of the tenders and contracts committee of AHTC, which was chaired by Mr Singh.

The independent panel appointed in February to recover improper payments is chaired by Senior Counsel Philip Jeyaretnam. Its other members are Senior Counsel N. Sreenivasan and KPMG managing partner Ong Pang Thye.

The panel has the power to commence legal action on behalf of the town council for overpayments and payments without proper certification of work being done, among others. This can include mediation, arbitration and other court proceedings.

Its other powers include making demands and coming to settlements on behalf of AHTC.

The Housing Board had asked AHTC to appoint a third party to recover the improper payments made from town council funds.

A pre-trial conference date of Aug 31 has been listed.

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/ahtc-alleges-that-all-payments-totalling-33-million-made-to-ex-managing-agent-are-void?xtor=CS1-10

Independent Panel initiates legal action against Low Thia Khiang, Sylvia Lim and Pritam Singh

The independent panel, tasked with looking into improper payments made by AHTC has taken legal action against WP's chief Low Thia Khiang, chairman of AHTC Pritam Singh and vice-chairman Sylvia Lim.

The writ of summons was filed last Friday by the town council in the High Court, over a breach of fiduciary duties.

Besides the three Aljunied GRC MPs, other defendants named are: Mr Chua Zhi Hon, a former member of the WP Youth Wing executive committee; Mr Kenneth Foo, deputy organising secretary of the WP and WP candidate in Nee Soon GRC in the 2015 General Election; Ms How Weng Fan, owner of the town council's former managing agent firm FM Solutions and Services (FMSS); and FMSS.

A pre-trial conference date of Aug 31 has been listed.

Last year, the Housing Board had asked AHTC to appoint a third party to recover the improper payments made from town council funds.

The independent panel, appointed in February this year, is chaired by senior counsel Philip Jeyaretnam, and comprises senior counsel N. Sreenivasan and KPMG managing partner Ong Pang Thye.

The independent panel has the power to commence legal action on behalf of the town council for overpayments and payments without proper certification of work being done, among others. This can include mediation, arbitration and other court proceedings.

Besides this case, AHTC also filed another writ of summons in the High Court against FMSS last Friday.

This was in relation to an arbitration case over a financial dispute emerging from the lapses at the town council.

In a report last year, audit firm KPMG found that governance lapses at AHTC between 2011 and 2015 had put public funds running into millions of dollars at risk of improper use.

It traced some of the improper payments to AHTC's then managing agent FMSS.

Ms How and her late husband, Mr Danny Loh, were owners of FMSS and held key management and financial control positions in the town council at the same time.

This meant they effectively approved and made payments to themselves when they paid FMSS, the KPMG report found. It also raised the possibility of civil and criminal liabilities.

The report was part of the ongoing audit of AHTC following lapses flagged by its own auditors as well as by the Auditor-General's Office in a special report in February 2015.