SPH Media files police report in ongoing circulation data scandal

Following January’s probe into falsely inflated circulation numbers at Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) Media, the group has now filed a police report flagging potential offences that may have occurred during the course of the investigation. Police have confirmed they are looking into the matter.

This filing comes as SPH’s audit and risk committee released their findings on why circulation numbers had been overstated by as many as 82,600 copies per day in certain months, even counting several subscriptions twice and using fake accounts to drive up circulation.

After major public and industry criticism rocked the publishers of Singapore’s leading news publications including The Straits Times, a full investigation was launched, led by the SPH Media audit and risk committee in tandem with legal advisors Allen & Gledhill and accounting firm Deloitte, for the relevant data analysis.

The full report released on 16 June has a number of key findings, including a possible misappropriated barter deal with an unnamed company (‘Company X’) in exchange for inflated circulation numbers, and revenue without due intention to carry out the interests of the arrangement.

Other findings includes the falsified reporting of around 1,900 daily copies of Straits Times being supplied to secondary schools, after an employee had already been directed to stop printing and delivering copies as per the schools’ requests in 2020.

The misrepresentation also extended to digital downloads as per the investigation outcomes, with as many as 2,500 daily digital copies being reported as downloaded by airline arrangements, when actual numbers sat between 110 to 220 copies instead.

With regards to the police report filing, the media company has stated they will fully co-operate with the police on all required matters, including following recommendations outlined by the above report.

Chairman of the audit and risk committee Max Loh stated that the filings are not against any specific persons or entities within SPH, but rather the findings of the investigation itself – in spite of all mention of such persons, entities and potential offences being redacted from the report. When asked to qualify this, Loh shared with The Straits Times that police have the full unredacted findings, and he could not add more as to not prejudice the ongoing investigation into the filed offences.

The report concluded that despite circulatory malpractice in copy numbers, there was no material impact on the financial statements of SPH Media for FY2022, and that reprimanding actions taken against several employees and former staff in January were compliant in line with the company's policies. There was also no evidence that editorial departments were involved in the inflation of any numbers.

It also stated several recommendations to ensure such an issue cannot be repeated moving forward: the imperative to change the SPH Media culture, encourage a less siloed working structure, set a tone of better risk and quality control management, as well as a secure environment in which employees can raise concerns and challenges, including those in senior positions, in order to address them.

The police investigation remains ongoing.