CJ Menon: “... there remain concerns as to whether the court has been apprised of all the facts in a candid and forthright manner and whether the Town Council has in place a system to ensure due diligence in selecting candidates to do this work.”
So, why is WP not being forthright with HDB and the court in their appointment of independent accountants?
TWO QUESTIONS:
1. The real reason for Business Assurance's withdrawal
2. When did MRI withdraw and why
AHTC's lawyer, Peter Low cited media scrutiny as the reason for Business Assurance's withdrawal.
But another reason had emerged in court that the firm’s founder Alex Chai had backed out as he wanted to keep his grading in an annual evaluation of public accountants (PMP) carried out by the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Board (ACRA) private.
Hence CJ Menon noted that Business Assurance's withdrawal on account of 'media scrutiny' was 'a half story'.
After Business Assurance pulled out, AHTC approached MRI Moores Rowland LLP, which accepted the job but also did not respond to a request for details on its credentials.
CJ Menon also found it 'VERY TROUBLING' that MRI's withdrawal was not mentioned in the affidavit filed by AHTC on Monday 18 Jan.
“We were told today that MRI withdrew on Sunday, Jan 17. If this is true, we find it troubling this was not mentioned in their affidavit on the 18th – this suggests the town council was still putting forward MRI as a candidate,” said CJ Menon
On Pritam Singh's faiure to mention MRI's withdrawal in the affidavit, CJ Menon said, “Ms Kam invites us to infer that in fact MRI withdrew not on Sunday but on (Tuesday) after the town council had been told that evening that ACRA had been subpoenaed."
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