Latest news with #bidrigging
CNA
23-05-2025
- Business
- CNA
Two construction firms fined S$4.6 million for rigging bids for People's Association projects
SINGAPORE: Two construction firms have been fined S$4.6 million (US$3.6 million) by Singapore's competition watchdog for colluding to rig bids for People's Association (PA) projects, the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) said on Friday (May 23). Hunan Fengtian Construction Group and Trust-Build Engineering & Construction were fined S$349,350 and S$4,295,059 respectively. The two companies have until Jul 23 to pay the penalties. The companies were found to have coordinated bid submissions on three tenders for upgrading works at community clubs in Bukit Batok, Cheng San and Eunos in 2022. The value of their tenders was about S$56 million (US$43 million) in total, CCCS said. COLLUSION UNDERMINED COMPETITION Bid-rigging occurs when suppliers collude on bid submissions for tenders. They might take turns to win a tender by agreeing on terms, or they may choose not to participate in certain tenders after agreeing who should win. In this instance, CCCS found that Trust-Build was the identified winner, while Hunan Fengtian was the support bidder. Hunan Fengtian had prepared tender submissions on behalf of Trust-Build, even proposing its bid prices for each of the tenders. CCCS added that Hunan Fengtian was "aware" of Trust-Build's likely bid prices and the contents of its tender submissions despite appearing to compete against the latter for the tenders. This conduct eliminated the competitive pressure on both parties to present their best offers to PA, the competition watchdog said. As Trust-Build's bid prices were lower than Hunan Fengtian's, they had a better chance of winning. Such practices violate competition law, which requires businesses to act independently in the market. The affected tenders were called between August and October 2022, and were for general construction and major repair of buildings, CCCS said. The value of the Bukit Batok community club tender was about S$17.6 million, and had 10 tenderers. The Cheng San community club tender was valued at S$21 million and had 15 bidders. The Eunos community club tender was valued at about S$17 million, and had 11 tenderers, but was later aborted for undisclosed reasons. Mr Caleb Tan, deputy director of legal and enforcement at CCCS, said that the PA was "very vigilant" when they received the tender submissions. They had noticed similarities in Hunan Fengtian and Trust-Build's submissions, in terms of words and diagrams used, he added. The PA reported the suspected bid-rigging to CCCS, with both companies subsequently excluded from the tender evaluations. None of the PA tenders were awarded to either firm. INVESTIGATIONS CCCS launched investigations in July 2023 and conducted raids at the businesses of both companies in November that year. During this time, CCCS secured evidence from various sources, including WhatsApp messages between both parties. As part of the legal process under the Competition Act 2004, CCCS issued a proposed infringement decision to both parties in October 2024, giving both parties a chance to respond before a final decision by CCCS. Although Trust-Build faced a higher penalty than Hunan Fengtian in absolute figures, it does not mean that Hunan Fengtian was "less culpable", Mr Tan said. Mr Tan said that the two companies were industry contacts. They had previously met at a conference and remained in touch about developments in the market. The general manager of Hunan Fengtian had colluded with Trust-Build to try to get future business for his own company, as the company had intentions of winding down in Singapore, Mr Tan said. For Trust-Build, the incentive was for its director to learn from Hunan Fengtian's experience in bidding for public tenders, he added. Mr Alvin Koh, chief executive of CCCS, said that bid-rigging undermines fair competition, distorts the regular operation of market forces and prevents customers from obtaining genuine and competitive offers. 'In the context of public procurement where public funds are used, taxpayers are the ones who ultimately pay the price of such infringing conduct,' he added. He urged businesses that are approached to take part in anti-competitive agreements to reject such offers and report them to CCCS. The commission's leniency programme means that parties that come forward voluntarily with information about anti-competitive agreements may receive reduced or waived financial penalties.
CBC
22-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Frank Zampino, former Montreal politician, testifies in his own defence at corruption trial
The former head of Montreal's executive committee, Frank Zampino, testified in his own defence Thursday at his trial on municipal corruption charges and denied any involvement in a municipal contract bid-rigging scheme. Zampino was second-in-command to former mayor Gérald Tremblay from 2001 to 2009. The prosecution alleges Zampino put in place a system allowing 13 engineering firms to share 34 public contracts with a total value of $160 million between 2004 and 2009. In return, the engineering firms would allegedly make a donation of three per cent of the value of each contract to Zampino's party, Union Montreal, as well as an initial donation — sort of like an entry fee to participate in the scheme — ranging from $50,000 to $200,000. "Your honour, I have never participated in any form of collusion or bid-rigging scheme in any way or any circumstance," Zampino testified. "I have never orchestrated any such scheme. I have never fixed the outcome of any public tender. I have never authorized or given a mandate to anyone to further facilitate any such system," he said. Zampino said the first time he learned of the alleged contract-sharing scheme was when it came up during testimony at the Charbonneau commission in 2013. After summing up his personal and professional career, Zampino was asked about attending sporting events in private boxes. Zampino testified that he and other members of the city's executive committee regularly attended Montreal Canadiens games and concerts at the Bell Centre in private boxes at the invitation of engineering firms and other businesses. "To my knowledge, no one ever paid for those tickets. They're generally purchased by the different companies that invited us," Zampino said. "I was never asked to refund and I never offered. This was a practice that was in force for many years," he said. Zampino's testimony was continuing Thursday afternoon. Four other people are also facing charges: former director of public works for the city, Robert Marcil, and the heads of three engineering firms, Kazimierz Olechnowicz, Bernard Poulin and Normand Brousseau. A previous witness for the prosecution, Michel Lalonde, the former head of the Groupe Séguin engineering firm, testified in March that it was widely known during the Tremblay administration that Zampino was "the person to see" in order to obtain lucrative contracts in Montreal. This is the second trial for Zampino and his co-accused after he was arrested in 2017. The judge in the first trial ordered a stay of proceedings after determining that wiretap evidence gathered by investigators — including recordings of Zampino and his co-accused talking with their lawyers — was unconstitutional. That decision was appealed to the Quebec Court of Appeal, which concluded that even though the wiretap evidence was indeed unconstitutional, it was not enough to justify a stay of proceedings and that a new trial should be held without using the wiretap evidence. That decision was appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, which last year refused to hear the case, leading to this new trial which began in February.
Japan Times
09-05-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Hakuhodo's appeal dismissed in Tokyo Games bid-rigging case
The Tokyo High Court on Thursday rejected an appeal filed by lawyers for Hakuhodo against a lower court ruling that ordered the advertising agency to pay a fine of ¥200 million ($1.37 million) for its involvement in a high-profile Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics bid-rigging case. The high court, presided over by judge Kazunori Karei, also upheld the Tokyo District Court's sentence of 18 months in jail, suspended for three years, for Kenichiro Yokomizo, the 58-year-old former president of a Hakuhodo group firm. It was the first high court ruling in a series of bid-rigging cases related to the Tokyo Games, held in 2021. According to the district court's ruling, Yokomizo and others, including a former senior official of the Tokyo Games organizing committee, decided contractors in advance of bidding for planning work for Olympic test events between February and July 2018. In the series of cases, six companies and an official in charge at each company were indicted, in addition to the former organizing committee official. Of them, four companies, including Hakuhodo, and their officials were found guilty in their first trials and have appealed the rulings.
