AHTC pays S$4m for discrepancies in Punggol East SMC statements

​The Aljunied-Hougang Town Council (AHTC) paid S$4 million on Thursday (Mar 9) to make up for discrepancies found in earlier financial statements it submitted for the handover of Punggol East Single-Member Constituency (SMC).
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In a media release on Friday, the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council (PRPTC) said it received a third set of financial statements for the handover of the SMC from AHTC on Feb 24 this year, about 15 months after the handover date. 

Workers' Party-held AHTC, formally known as Aljunied-Hougang-Punggol East Town Council (AHPETC), lost its single-ward Punggol East seat to the ruling People's Action Party in the 2015 General Election. 

Last October, the Court of Appeal ordered AHTC to provide PRPTC with access to financial documents relating to the Punggol East constituency by Nov 4. 
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AHTC previously submitted two sets of financial statements, both of which it subsequently withdrew because of discrepancies identified, PRPTC said. 

Under the latest set of financial statements, the amount due from AHTC to Punggol East SMC was slightly more than S$24 million. It had earlier paid S$20 million. 

PRPTC sent a demand to AHTC to ask for the balance on Tuesday and received it two days later, it said. 

PRPTC has notified AHTC that its demand was without prejudice to PRPTC’s rights arising from discrepancies it identified in the audited financial statements on the distribution of assets and liabilities, the lack of details in those statements, KPMG’s findings and the past payment review which was being conducted by PRPTC’s independent panel, the town council added.

Independent auditor KPMG has been tasked by the Court of Appeal to establish whether any past payments made by AHPETC were improper. It released a report noting "serious flaws" in AHTC's governance in October.