Photo credit: Livspace

Livspace, a KKR-backed interior design and renovation company, and the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) have denied allegations that the government agency has appointed the Singapore-based startup for any of its projects.

K Shanmugam, the city-state’s Minister for Law, is the father of Ravi Shanmugam, Livspace’s Southeast Asia CEO. The SLA is overseen by Singapore’s Law Ministry.

Claims have surfaced that the SLA had awarded contracts to Livspace for refurbishing 26 Ridout Road, a state property rented by K Shanmugam via a bidding process run by the agency.

In a statement to Tech in Asia, Livspace called the rumors “completely false and baseless.”

“Livspace has not undertaken any project or work whatsoever at any of the properties based on Ridout Road – neither for SLA, nor for homeowners, nor for tenants. Livspace has no contracts with SLA and Livspace has never been engaged by SLA to do any work,” the company wrote in an email statement.

Meanwhile, K Shanmugam said in parliament today that such claims are “utterly false and defamatory.”

“My son tells me that his company does not have any contracts with SLA, nor that they do any work on the Ridout Road properties for SLA,” the minister added.

The allegations come after K Shanmugam faced backlash in May, when he became a tenant at 26 Ridout Road. He was questioned if he was paying below fair market value for the high-valued property.

However, the SLA previously said that K Shanmugam was the only bidder for the property who gave an offer above the agency’s guide rent – an amount that he was not informed about.

See also: The Amazon of home decor eyes profits for SG unit after breaking even in India