Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song (Aljunied): Thank you, Madam. Madam, the ARC report stated that the X Barter Deal was not a genuine arrangement. The corresponding revenue and expenses should not have been recognised and the corresponding circulation numbers should not have been counted. So, my question is, if it was found that the X Barter Deal was not a genuine arrangement, will there be any investigation into the other media company, which was named as “X” in the report, and whether they were also inflating their numbers?
Secondly, the Minister said that the question of loss of public funds does not arise. But what kind of accountability has been given to the donors and the clients who had contributed to the NIE Fund on the understanding that they were helping the underprivileged in society but were instead used to shore up the circulation figures for SPH?
Mrs Josephine Teo: Mdm Deputy Speaker, at this point, we will not be at liberty to disclose the full range of the Police’s investigations. Are they specifically looking to establish liability in the context that Mr Giam described? That is for the Police to decide.
On the Member’s second question on accountability to the donors and the other parties that made resources available to SPH Limited, the purpose of making full disclosure on the findings is precisely to allow these entities to decide if they want to take further action. So, they can, if they choose to. It is not for us to decide on their behalf.
Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis (Sengkang): Thank you, Mdm Deputy Speaker. Just one supplementary question for the Minister. Given that there may be potential breaches of the Companies Act involved, is the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) looking at its own investigation and enforcement actions when it comes to not just the employees and ex-employees that were mentioned in the report but, potentially, also the directors of then-SPH for potential breach of fiduciary duties?
Similarly, given that it was a listed company back then, is SGX also looking at its own regulatory actions in relation to some of these misstatements of circulation and financial figures?
Mrs Josephine Teo: Mdm Deputy Speaker, the findings have only been made available recently. As to whether the other agencies intend to take regulatory action, this is something for them to decide and I cannot answer on their behalf.
Mdm Deputy Speaker: Mr Dennis Tan.
Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong (Hougang): Thank you, Mdm Deputy Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister whether ARC had looked into the failure of internal and external audit processes and the internal auditing that were done in the relevant years, because these relate to the governance aspect of the entire issue of the inflation of circulation numbers. And if they have not done so, will the Government be asking them to look into this?
Mrs Josephine Teo: Mdm Deputy Speaker, the ARC’s report is public except for the redaction of names of individuals as well as companies. I have no more information to offer to Mr Tan other than what he is able to access from the public records.
It was asked by the Board to meet a set of terms of reference. The intention of the Board was to establish the scale of the circulation numbers being overstated. I am not aware of the terms of reference asking for the ARC to investigate the matter before September 2020. I am not aware of them being asked to investigate the goings-on before that. So, therefore, myself, what I can share is that, from the report, I did not see them making conclusions. I did not see them drawing conclusions for the period before that.
Mdm Deputy Speaker: Ms Nadia Samdin. Sorry, Minister Teo.
Mrs Josephine Teo: Sorry, Mdm Deputy Speaker. I did not answer one part of the question. Are we requiring them to do that? I think I have to remind Members that we did not have a funding relationship with them before the period that was being investigated by the ARC. What reason do we have to ask for an investigation of that nature? But going forward, henceforth, that is where the accountability has to be very clear.
Ministry of Communications and Information
6 July 2023
https://sprs.parl.gov.sg/search/#/sprs3topic?reportid=oral-answer-3291
Office of the Leader of the Opposition 