SingPost layoffs: “Internal investigations” into whistleblowing reports will not be made public, the company tells SIAS

SINGAPORE: Singapore Post will not publish the results of an internal investigation into whistleblowing reports, the company said in a filing to the Singapore Exchange (SGX) late Sunday evening (Dec 29).

On December 22, the company announced the termination of employment of its group chief executive officer Vincent Phang, group chief financial officer Vincent Yik and the chief executive of the company’s international business unit, Li Yu, due to mishandling of whistleblowing reports.

Three other managers directly involved in the matter were also fired after an internal investigation and a police report were filed against them.

When asked by the Securities Investors Association (SIAS) whether it would release the key findings of the internal investigation report, SingPost referred to the announcements it made on the SGX on December 22 and late Sunday evening.

“It is clear from both communications that the eventual agreement with the affected customer will not have a material financial impact on the group.

“The company will make further announcements as there are material developments,” it added.

WHAT HAPPENED

A whistleblower report was filed earlier this year about the group’s unregulated international e-commerce parcel logistics business.

The report claimed that SingPost’s international business unit manually entered certain delivery status codes. These were international envelope packages that the company had agreed to deliver as part of an agreement with one of its largest customers.

These manual entries were allegedly made without any basis or supporting documentation and with the intent to avoid penalties under the agreement.

Following an investigation, disciplinary proceedings were initiated against three managers directly involved in the matter. They were found to have committed serious breaches of the company’s code of conduct, SingPost said.

Managers were found to have executed or approved manual “delivery failure” status codes for packages even though no delivery attempt had been made and no receipts were available.

They were fired and a police report was filed against them.

Mr Phang, Mr Yik and Mr Li were found to have been “grossly negligent” in conducting the internal investigation into the whistleblowing report.

They “gave undue weight” to the misrepresentations made by representatives of the international business unit.