(July 6): Singapore’s government has the right to terminate funding for SPH Media Trust if “serious wrongdoings” are found, the Straits Times reported, citing minister Josephine Teo.

The government will intervene if there is misconduct or mismanagement of public funds by the media company, Singapore’s Minister for Communications and Information said in parliament Thursday (July 6).

Teo said the first tranche of funding for SPH Media disbursed in March came after the company found it had overstated its circulation figures, according to the newspaper. The government will review funding terms at the mid-term juncture, including performance indicators and the amount, she said.

Last month, SPH Media filed a police report in the aftermath of an internal investigation into overstated circulation figures. Its probe found it inflated numbers by up to 90,000 average daily copies in some months between 2020 and 2022.