Company's sole shareholder used corrupt help from mosque officer to win $223k in contracts
Shaffiq Alkhatib
The Straits Times
Feb 17, 2025
The director and sole shareholder of construction firm Zeal-Con Engineering received corrupt assistance from the executive chairman of two mosques, leading to his company winning two construction projects worth $223,000 in total.
Court documents identified Abdul Rahim Mawasi, then the executive chairman of Darul Aman Mosque in Jalan Eunos and Sallim Mattar Mosque in MacPherson, as the man who helped Mohd Mustaqim Kam.
Abdul Rahim, 58, is no longer holding the positions at these mosques. His case is pending.
On Feb 17, Kam, 66, also known as Kam Hock Beng, was sentenced to six months' jail after he pleaded guilty to a charge under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
At the time of the offence, Abdul Rahim was employed by the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) and seconded to the two mosques, where he chaired their management board, said deputy public prosecutors Bryan Wong and Yap Jia Jun.
Kam and Abdul Rahim got to know each other more than 10 years ago.
In July 2018, during a conversation with Kam, Abdul Rahim proposed that they start a travel company for pilgrimage trips.
Kam agreed to the idea, and as part of the agreement, Abdul Rahim did not have to contribute to the travel firm's paid-up capital, the DPPs said.
"Instead, he would assist Zeal-Con to obtain construction works from mosques that Rahim was in charge of. (Kam) would then apply part of the profits from these construction works towards the paid-up capital of the travel company," they added.
In August 2018, Abdul Rahim asked a subordinate at Darul Aman Mosque to invite Zeal-Con to submit a bid for a construction tender for upgrading works there.
On Aug 20 that year, Zeal-Con submitted a bid of $128,600.
The DPPs said that Abdul Rahim later contacted Kam about the quote.
"Rahim's actions were against Muis' internal policies. (Kam) thus understood that Zeal-Con's quote was higher than other bidders," the prosecutors added.
On Sept 7, 2018, Kam told Abdul Rahim he would revise his quote to $118,000 and submitted it to Darul Aman Mosque five days later.
This time round, Zeal-Con's quote was the lowest among the bidders.
Court documents stated that Abdul Rahim then recommended Zeal-Con to the mosque's management board, which approved awarding the construction project to the firm on or around Sept 26 that year.
Kam committed a similar offence involving Sallim Mattar Mosque, which called for quotes for upgrading works sometime before Sept 19, 2018.
On Aug 1, 2019, the board awarded three contracts to Zeal-Con for $105,000.
The DPPs said: "Investigations revealed that Rahim assisted Zeal-Con in obtaining the works, by either instructing (Kam) to lower Zeal-Con's quotations, or informing him that Zeal-Con's quotation was too high."
Some time before or in November 2019, Kam converted one of his existing shell companies into a firm called Amal Travel and Tour (ATT), which had a total of 100,000 shares.
He also increased the company's paid-up capital from $37,500 to $100,000.
As part of the reward for providing advice on the quotes for the projects linked to the two mosques, Kam allotted 25,000 ATT shares, worth $1 each, to Abdul Rahim's son in November 2019, the DPPs said.
The prosecutors added: "Rahim's son held these shares on behalf of Rahim. Neither Rahim nor his son paid for the shares."
Kam later successfully applied for a tour agency licence on Nov 13, 2019.
Court documents did not disclose how his offence came to light, but Kam and Abdul Rahim were later charged in court in 2022.
On Feb 17, defence lawyer Nirmal Singh pleaded for Kam to be given up to four months' jail, stressing that his client is remorseful and this was his first brush with the law.
