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SINGAPORE \u2013 A former executive chairman of two mosques was on June 26 handed a 14-month jail sentence over a graft charge.<\/p>\n
At the time of the offence, Abdul Rahim Mawasi was the executive chairman of Darul Aman Mosque in Jalan Eunos and Sallim Mattar Mosque in MacPherson.<\/p>\n
He was also a senior officer with the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore\u00a0(MUIS), who was seconded to the mosques.<\/p>\n
According to court documents, the 59-year-old had corruptly provided price-related advice<\/span><\/a> to a friend, unfairly enabling the latter\u2019s company to win construction contracts worth $223,000 linked to the two mosques.<\/p>\n Abdul Rahim, who no longer holds the positions at the mosques, was convicted in April after a trial.<\/p>\n His friend, Mohd Mustaqim Kam, also known as Kam Hock Beng, then 66, was sentenced to six months\u2019 jail in February 2025<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n Deputy Public Prosecutor Bryan Wong said that Abdul Rahim, who joined MUIS in 2005, was seconded to the two mosques where he chaired their management boards.<\/p>\n In the proceedings in 2025, the court heard that in July 2018, Abdul Rahim proposed to Kam, whom he had known for more than 10 years, that they start a travel company for pilgrimage trips.<\/p>\n Kam, who was a director at construction firm Zeal-Con Engineering, agreed.<\/p>\n The men also agreed that Abdul Rahim did not have to fork out any money to start the travel company. In return, he would assist Kam in obtaining construction jobs from Darul Aman Mosque and Sallim Mattar Mosque.<\/p>\n Kam would then use the profits from these jobs as paid-up capital of the travel company.<\/p>\n In 2018, Darul Aman Mosque sourced for vendors to do construction works for its yard area. Zeal-Con submitted two quotes to the mosque for these works.<\/p>\n The first quote dated Aug 20, 2018 stated $128,600, while a second quote dated Sept 12 that year stated a lower amount of $118,000.<\/p>\n This revised quote was lower than the next closest bid of $125,500, which was submitted by another firm, said the DPP.<\/p>\n He added that on Sept 26, 2018, Zeal-Con was awarded the contract for $118,000.<\/p>\n Wong added that the mosque\u2019s management board was not aware that Abdul Rahim had \u201cconducted extensive discussions with Kam as to Zeal-Con\u2019s bid price and even provided crucial price indications to Kam, which resulted in Zeal-Con securing the contract\u201d.<\/p>\n On Sept 19, 2018, Sallim Mattar Mosque obtained a quote of $115,700 from Zeal-Con to perform works on various parts of the mosque including the roof and reception area.<\/p>\n In July 2019, it obtained a lowered quote of $105,000 from the company to perform the same works.<\/p>\n Wong said that the following month, Sallim Mattar Mosque issued letters of contract awards to Zeal-Con linked to the amount.<\/p>\n The evidence also showed that Abdul Rahim had advised Kam to reduce Zeal-Con\u2019s quote so that it could secure the contract, the DPP added.<\/p>\n During Kam\u2019s conviction, the court heard that hefore or in November 2019, Kam converted one of his existing shell companies into a firm called Amal Travel and Tour (ATT). It had a total of 100,000 shares.<\/p>\n He also increased the company\u2019s paid-up capital from $37,500 to $100,000.<\/p>\n In 2025, the prosecution also said that he allotted 25,000 ATT shares, worth $1 each, to Abdul Rahim\u2019s son in November 2019.<\/p>\n The prosecutor said: \u201cTo avoid detection of his corrupt scheme, (Abdul Rahim) arranged for his son to hold the shares of their joint venture company on his behalf and failed to disclose his interest in that company to MUIS.\u201d<\/p>\n During the trial, Abdul Rahim, who was represented by lawyer Satwant Singh Sarban Singh, denied having any involvement in ATT.<\/p>\n It was also undisputed that he did not hold any shares in the company.<\/p>\n The DPP added that there was no clear evidence that Darul Aman Mosque and Sallim Mattar Mosque sustained substantial losses as the works by Zeal-Con were satisfactorily completed.<\/p>\n However, he stressed that Abdul Rahim had committed a serious public sector corruption offence for financial gain.<\/p>\n On June 26, Singh pleaded for Abdul Rahim to be given not more than six months\u2019 jail and said that his client had no previous convictions.<\/p>\n Abdul Rahim\u2019s bail has been set at $30,000, and he is expected to begin serving his sentence on July 10.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n SINGAPORE \u2013 A former executive chairman of two mosques was on June 26 handed a 14-month jail sentence over a graft charge. 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