SINGAPORE – A senior manager of a committee under the purview of the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) lied to a public servant, claiming he had no financial interest in a company even though he had been paid for his services to one of its clients.
In reality, Mohd Zairil Ismail, 54, who was then working for Mosques-Madrasahs-Wakaf Shared Services (MMWSS), had been involved in discussions on the incorporation of software services firm Qirom Consulting.
However, he was not named in its incorporation documents due to concerns over a conflict of interest.
Qirom later provided software services to various mosques, madrasahs – or Islamic religious schools – and other organisations in the Muslim community.
On Nov 20, Zairil was sentenced to one week in jail after he pleaded guilty to one count of giving false information to a MUIS officer.
Zairil was a senior manager at MMWSS from 2021 to 2023.
In a Facebook post on Dec 31, 2024, MUIS said that Zairil was then employed by MMWSS and was not a staff member of the statutory board.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Matthew Choo told the court that MMWSS provides common administration and governance functions for mosques, madrasahs and wakafs, which are Muslim endowments for religious and charitable purposes. These include accounting and financial management.
Zairil joined MMWSS in 2006 and Qirom was incorporated in February 2015, with Mr Mohamad Daud A Rahim, 60, as one of its directors.
In 2015, Zairil opened a joint bank account with Mr Daud, who transferred money from Qirom to it.
Zairil had helped Qirom by providing accounting services to the company and its clients.
Court documents stated that he received between $2,000 and $3,000 a month in consultancy fees for providing accountancy services to one of Qirom’s clients – an unnamed non-profit social organisation – from 2015 to 2022.
Mr Daud would transfer the fees to the joint account, and Zairil would later move the money to his personal account.
