Former coach admits conspiring to falsify finswimming results for SEA Games selection

A few days later, Ho allegedly raised the idea of falsifying the Malaysian Championship results to Faiz and Lee.

The two subordinates were hesitant but relented because Ho was more senior than them and they were afraid to question him.

In a WhatsApp group chat, the trio discussed which athletes they intended to nominate for the SEA Games as part of the appeal process and the sporting events and timings to include.

Most of the discussions, including how to produce qualifying timings without arousing suspicion, were between Ho and Faiz, the prosecution said.

On Jan 18, 2023, Faiz used software to create a false electronic record of four events at the Malaysian Championship, including the 4x200m relay event.

The forged results also stated that female athletes had taken part in events although only male athletes had attended the meet.

The false record was sent to the sports performance manager of finswimming, intending to induce SNOC to select athletes to represent Singapore in finswimming events at the SEA Games.

In February 2023, Lee’s grandmother died, so he did not take part in any further discussions on the falsification of results. Ho and Faiz began discussing this privately instead of in their group chat with Lee.

When the sports performance manager of finswimming asked for the official results of the Malaysian Championship, Faiz said he would first check with Ho.

The pair then discussed how to respond and agreed to add the falsified results to the official result sheet of the Malaysian Championship.

Ho allegedly did so, reviewing drafts of the altered document with Faiz and making amendments before emailing it to the sports performance manager.

The SNOC Appeal Committee eventually selected eight athletes to represent Singapore at the 2023 SEA Games.

Of these, two had already been selected to represent Singapore for another SEA Games event, but the falsified results induced SNOC to select them for an additional event.

The remaining six athletes, including Ho’s daughter, would not have been selected without the falsified results.

SNOC incurred an additional expense of about S$15,700 to send the six athletes to the 2023 SEA Games.

AFTERMATH

In December 2023, Ho was removed from his position at the SUF.

Three weeks after Ho’s removal, Faiz and Lee informed an anonymous whistleblower about the falsified finswimming results. Faiz also expressed regret for his actions.

The whistleblower informed SNOC’s then-president, Minister Grace Fu, about the falsification. SNOC and Sport Singapore subsequently began investigations.

When the sports performance manager responsible for overseeing SUF wrote to the president of MUSF to ask for the official results of the Malaysian Championship, Ho persuaded him to send the falsified document.

The sports performance manager then asked if the falsified document showed the correct results, as he understood that no female Singapore athlete had taken part. The president of MUSF maintained that the names of the female athletes had been submitted to MUSF’s secretariat.

SNOC convened a Committee of Inquiry (COI) in July 2024 to establish if the SUF had falsified the results, and the circumstances surrounding it.

The COI spent 12 hours interviewing 11 people and another 10 hours preparing a report.

It found, among other things, that the results had been falsified and that Ho had played a pivotal role in the scheme.

SNOC lodged a police report in March 2025.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Dhiraj G Chainani sought a fine of S$10,000 to S$15,000 for Faiz, noting his voluntary disclosure and his position relative to Ho.

The prosecutor said there were no sentencing precedents involving the successful falsification of sporting results to influence a national body’s selection of athletes for an international competition.

He said that the prosecution’s position rested principally on the fact that Faiz had disclosed the concealed scheme before any official investigation began.

Sentencing was adjourned to September.

For conspiring to make a false electronic record to commit fraud, Faiz could be jailed for up to four years, fined, or both.

The cases for Ho and Lee are pending.