Condo chairman loses defamation suit over undisclosed links to contractors hired by estate

Mohamed Rafi Mohamed Kassim, who chaired the management council of Yew Tee Residences in Choa Chu Kang North from 2017 until July 30, 2024, sued Cherlyn Ang Kwee Hiang over remarks she made at a residents’ meeting in September 2024.

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Published Oct 29, 2026, 10:35 PM

Updated Oct 30, 2026, 07:48 AM

SINGAPORE – A former condominium management council chairman has lost a defamation suit against his successor, after a court found that he had failed to properly disclose his links to two businesses that did work for the estate, including one owned by his wife.

Ang said at the meeting that several council members had failed to declare conflicts of interest. She highlighted that Mohamed Rafi owned two businesses, AZH Engineering Services and AZH Consultant, which had been engaged for several of the condo’s projects, and questioned whether they were trying to hide this connection.

She described the situation as a “serious breach of trust” and an “obvious conflict of interest”, and alleged a “misuse of power”.

District Judge Evans Ng, in a judgment on Oct 29, dismissed his claim after finding that Ang had substantially proved her allegations.

Failed to properly disclose interests in two businesses

The judge found that Mohamed Rafi had failed to properly disclose his interests in the two AZH businesses, which had provided services to the condominium’s management corporation between 2020 and 2024.

He had also provided quotations from the businesses to the estate’s managing agent and participated in at least one decision to award work to one of them.

The judge said the evidence justified the allegations of an undisclosed conflict of interest, the misuse of his council position and a serious breach of his governance responsibilities.

The case arose from an extraordinary general meeting held on Sept 28, 2024, attended by condominium owners, their representatives and the management agent.

Mohamed Rafi took issue with Ang’s remarks at the meeting, arguing that they conveyed that he had breached the law, dishonestly concealed his interests, abused his position to benefit himself and could not be trusted.

The court accepted that her words were defamatory – as they harmed Mohamed Rafi’s reputation in the eyes of others – but found that they did not go as far as accusing him of deliberately concealing his interests in a dishonest scheme to enrich himself by securing contracts for the businesses.

Under the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act, a council member with a direct or indirect financial interest in a matter before the council or management corporation must declare that interest and abstain from considering, discussing and voting on the matter. The law also treats an immediate family member’s interest as the council member’s own.

AZH Engineering Services, a sole proprietorship, was registered in February 2001. Mohamed Rafi owned it briefly before his wife became its owner in March of that year. He is also a director and 50% shareholder of AZH Consultant, which was incorporated in July 2008.

Both AZH businesses provided various services to the condominium, including temperature-taking during the COVID-19 pandemic, plumbing repairs, and the repair and installation of doors. Invoices produced in court showed that they billed the management corporation 19 times between 2020 and 2024.

Between 2019 and 2024, Mohamed Rafi signed annual declarations of interest required by law. These declarations stated that, to the best of his knowledge, he had no actual or potential conflict of interest concerning services provided under contracts between the management corporation and its service providers.

None of the declarations disclosed his interests in the two AZH businesses, the judge noted.

The judge found that, from September 2020 onwards, these declarations were inconsistent with his interests and the businesses’ dealings with the condominium.

In March 2021, Mohamed Rafi emailed the council secretary to declare his shareholding in AZH Consultant, saying he had not previously been aware that it needed to be declared.

He also said he would abstain from procurement activities relating to services provided by the company.

But the judge found that the e-mail did not state the extent of his shareholding or disclose his directorship. The e-mail was also not shown to have been brought to the attention of the other council members.

The disclosure was inadequate and, in any event, came after the company had already issued at least eight invoices to the condominium, the judge noted.

Mohamed Rafi had also made no declaration identifying his wife’s ownership of AZH Engineering Services or his interest in it.

The judge further found evidence of his involvement in the businesses’ dealings with the management agent then.

A representative of the managing agent, RealtyLink Consultancy, had initially said he approached the AZH businesses for quotations without Mohamed Rafi’s involvement.

However, under cross-examination, he admitted that Mohamed Rafi was the only person from the businesses that he dealt with. The representative also said Mohamed Rafi had given him quotations from the AZH businesses.

“This proves (Mohamed Rafi’s) involvement in (the AZH businesses’) dealings with the management agent, although it does not prove that he personally procured the award of every contract,” the judge said.

Voted to award contract to wife’s company

More significantly, the court found that Mohamed Rafi voted by e-mail in June 2023 in favour of awarding a contract to AZH Engineering Services.

“By participating in a decision benefiting his wife’s business without having properly disclosed his interest, (Mohamed Rafi) acted in conflict with his fiduciary duties,” the judge said, adding that the e-mail vote “supports the allegation that he misused his council position”.

In dismissing the suit, the judge said Ang did not have to prove that Mohamed Rafi had procured every contract or engaged in a deliberate scheme of concealment and self-enrichment, as those allegations were not conveyed by her remarks.

“The defence of justification succeeds,” the judge said.

Mohamed Rafi was represented by I.R.B. Law while R. E. Law acted for Ang.

2017 年至 2024 年 7 月 30 日担任蔡厝港北区油池住宅管理委员会主席的 Mohamed Rafi Mohamed Kassim，就 Cherlyn Ang Kwee Hiang 在 2024 年 9 月的居民会议上发表的言论，起诉了 Cherlyn Ang Kwee Hiang。

图片：谷歌地图截图

发布于 2026 年 10 月 29 日晚上 10:35

更新于2026年10月30日上午7:48

新加坡——一名公寓管理委员会前主席起诉其继任者诽谤，但败诉。法院裁定，该主席未能妥善披露其与两家为该公寓提供服务的企业之间的联系，其中一家企业由其妻子所有。

Ang在会议上表示，多名议员未申报利益冲突。她特别指出，Mohamed Rafi拥有两家公司——AZH工程服务公司和AZH咨询公司，这两家公司曾参与该公寓的多个项目，她质疑他们是否试图隐瞒这种关联。

她将这种情况描述为“严重违反信任”和“明显的利益冲突”，并指控存在“滥用权力”。

地方法官 Evans Ng 于 10 月 29 日作出判决，驳回了他的诉讼请求，理由是 Ang 已基本证明了她的指控。

未能如实披露在两家企业中的权益

法官认定穆罕默德·拉菲未能妥善披露其在两家 AZH 企业的利益，这两家企业在 2020 年至 2024 年期间为该公寓的管理公司提供服务。

他还向该地产的管理代理人提供了这些企业的报价，并且至少参与了一项将工程授予其中一家企业的决定。

法官表示，证据证实了有关其存在未披露的利益冲突、滥用议员职位以及严重违反其治理职责的指控。

该案件源于 2024 年 9 月 28 日举行的一次特别股东大会，出席会议的有公寓业主、他们的代表以及物业管理公司。

穆罕默德·拉菲对昂在会议上的言论提出异议，认为这些言论表明他违反了法律，不诚实地隐瞒了自己的利益，滥用职权为自己谋利，而且不可信赖。

法院认定她的言论具有诽谤性——因为这些言论损害了穆罕默德·拉菲在他人眼中的名誉——但认为这些言论并未指控他故意隐瞒自己在不诚实的计划中的利益，通过为企业获取合同来中饱私囊。

根据《楼宇维护及分契式物业管理法》，任何在理事会或物业管理公司审议的事项中拥有直接或间接经济利益的理事会成员，必须申报该利益，并回避对该事项的审议、讨论和表决。该法还规定，直系亲属的利益与理事会成员自身的利益同等对待。

AZH工程服务公司是一家独资企业，于2001年2月注册成立。穆罕默德·拉菲曾短暂拥有该公司，同年3月其妻子接手。他同时也是AZH咨询公司的董事及50%的股东，该公司成立于2008年7月。

AZH的两家公司都为该公寓提供了各种服务，包括在新冠疫情期间进行体温检测、管道维修以及门窗维修和安装。法庭出示的发票显示，在2020年至2024年间，他们向物业管理公司开具了19份账单。

2019年至2024年间，穆罕默德·拉菲签署了法律要求的年度利益申报表。这些申报表声明，据他所知，他在管理公司与其服务提供商之间的合同项下提供的服务方面不存在任何实际或潜在的利益冲突。

法官指出，所有声明均未披露他在两家 AZH 企业的利益。

法官认定，从 2020 年 9 月起，这些声明与他的利益以及企业与公寓的交易不符。

2021 年 3 月，穆罕默德·拉菲向理事会秘书发送电子邮件，申报他在 AZH Consultant 的股份，称他之前并不知道需要申报。

他还表示，他将不参与与该公司提供的服务相关的采购活动。

但法官认为，该电子邮件并未说明他的持股比例，也未披露他的董事职务。此外，也没有证据表明该电子邮件已提交给其他董事会成员。

法官指出，披露内容不充分，而且无论如何，披露之前该公司已经向该公寓至少开出了八张发票。

穆罕默德·拉菲也没有声明他妻子是否拥有 AZH 工程服务公司，或者他本人是否持有该公司股份。

法官还发现了他参与当时企业与管理代理人交易的证据。

物业管理公司 RealtyLink Consultancy 的一位代表最初表示，他是在没有 Mohamed Rafi 参与的情况下联系 AZH 各企业询价的。

然而，在交叉询问中，他承认穆罕默德·拉菲是他唯一接触过的企业负责人。该代表还表示，穆罕默德·拉菲曾向他提供过AZH企业的报价。

法官说：“这证明了穆罕默德·拉菲参与了（AZH企业）与管理代理人的交易，尽管这并不能证明他亲自促成了每一份合同的授予。”

投票决定将合同授予妻子的公司

更重要的是，法院发现穆罕默德·拉菲在 2023 年 6 月通过电子邮件投票赞成将合同授予 AZH 工程服务公司。

法官表示：“穆罕默德·拉菲在没有适当披露其利益的情况下参与了有利于其妻子企业的决策，这违反了他的受托责任。”他还补充说，电子邮件投票“支持了他滥用其议员职位的指控”。

法官驳回了该诉讼，并表示Ang无需证明Mohamed Rafi获得了每一份合同或参与了蓄意隐瞒和自肥计划，因为她的言论并未传达这些指控。

“辩护理由成立，”法官说。

Mohamed Rafi 的代理律师是 IRB Law，而 Ang 的代理律师是 RE Law。