No charges against ex-FAS senior officials Zainudin Nordin, Winston Lee in funds misuse probe: AGC
SINGAPORE: The Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) has said that Zainudin Nordin and Winston Lee - the former president and general secretary of the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) respectively - will not face charges as part of an investigation into the alleged misuse of funds at local football clubs.
“AGC has recently directed the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) to take no further action against Zainudin Bin Nordin and Winston Lee,” said an AGC spokesperson on Monday (Sep 27) in response to media queries from CNA.
“AGC is still in consultation with the CAD to review the CAD’s investigation findings against other individuals and is therefore unable to comment on the case at this juncture,” the spokesperson added.
The Straits Times first reported the AGC’s decision on Sunday.
Zainudin was FAS president between 2009 and 2017. The former Member of Parliament is currently chief strategy officer at food and beverage group Iron Chef F&B according to his LinkedIn account.
Lee was previously FAS general secretary, and was appointed the general secretary and treasurer for regional body ASEAN Football Federation in 2019.
The two men were among four people who were arrested in 2017 as part of a probe into misuse of funds at Singapore football clubs.
The other two who were arrested were Tiong Bahru Football Club chairman Bill Ng and his wife Bonnie.
In the run-up to the FAS’ first elections in 2017, Ng said during a press conference that he had donated S$850,000 to the FAS but did not know how it was used.
It then emerged that Tiong Bahru Football Club had made a S$500,000 donation to ASEAN Football Federation through the FAS.
Lee and Ng later had a public dispute over the other’s awareness of the transaction.
National sporting agency Sport Singapore lodged a police report against Tiong Bahru over the suspected misuse of club funds, as well as a purported attempt by a senior officer at the club to instigate another club to delay or obstruct the completion of audits until after the FAS elections.
The police later raided four locations, which included the FAS headquarters at Jalan Besar and three clubs linked to Ng - Hougang United, Tiong Bahru and Woodlands Wellington.
Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said in April this year that the AGC was reviewing the CAD's investigation findings into the alleged misuse of funds.
Mr Shanmugam added that it was not appropriate to comment further at the time, responding to a parliamentary question from Ms Sylvia Lim (WP-Aljunied).
CNA has contacted Lee, Zainudin and FAS for comment.
