Sentenced for Advancing Business Interests
On 16 February 2022, Poh Tien Chin Raymond (“Poh”) (傅天清, 44-year-old male Singaporean), an Administrative Executive of Asian Eternal Shipping Pte Ltd (“AES”) at the material time, was sentenced to a fine of S$8,000 and ordered to pay a penalty of S$6,488 for receiving bribes amounting to S$6,488 from Beh Chee Siang (“Beh”) (麥志祥, 46-year-old male Singaporean), a General Manager employed by T3 Express Pte Ltd (“T3”) at the material time. The bribes were rewards for having advanced T3’s business interests with AES from 2014 to 2017. In addition to giving Poh the bribes, Beh was convicted in February 2021 of corruption offences involving the following individuals:
(a) Wong Chau Lui (“Wong”) (温昭蕾, 53-year-old female Malaysian), a Director of T3 at the material time;
(b) Lim Ying Chao (“Lim”) (林赢朝, 33-year-old male Singaporean), a Senior Operations Executive of Covenant Freight Pte Ltd (“Covenant”) at the material time;
(c) Ganda Tua Sihombing (“Ganda”) (51-year-old male Indonesian), a Director of PT Tirta Anugerah Sukses (“PT TAS”) at the material time; and
(d) Tham Peck Kay (“Tham”) (谭碧琪, 48-year-old female Singaporean), a Supply Chain & Logistics Manager of Costa Singapore Pte Ltd (“Costa”) at the material time
2. T3 was in the business of providing freight forwarding and customs clearance services. Investigations by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) revealed that from 2013 to 2017, Wong, Beh, Lim and another individual had conspired to corruptly give bribes totalling $22,416.55 to Poh, Tham and Ganda as a reward for advancing T3’s business interests with AES, Costa and PT TAS respectively. Although employed under Covenant, Lim was involved in seeking out business opportunities for T3. Wong approved the payment of “commissions” or “rebates” to the various recipients from AES, Costa and PT TAS as a reward for recommending or engaging T3’s services. These payments were in fact bribes, and accounted for under T3’s profit and loss statement as cost of sales. The payments were made from T3’s bank account through payment vouchers and corresponding cheques.
3. For their actions:
(a) Wong Chau Lui faced 25 counts of engaging in a conspiracy with Beh, Lim and another individual to corruptly give gratification as a reward for advancing the business interests of T3 with numerous companies, under Section 6(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, read with Section 29(a). Wong was convicted in November 2019 and fined S$35,000.
(b) Beh Chee Siang faced 23 counts of engaging in a conspiracy with Wong, Lim and another individual to corruptly give gratification as a reward for advancing the business interests of T3 with numerous companies, under Section 6(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, read with Section 29(a). Beh was convicted in February 2021 and fined S$34,600.
(c) Lim Ying Chao faced nine counts of engaging in a conspiracy with Wong, Beh and another individual to corruptly give gratification as a reward for advancing the business interests of T3 with numerous companies, under Section 6(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, read with Section 29(a) and two counts of criminal breach of trust, under Section 406 of the Penal Code. Lim was convicted in August 2019 and fined S$2,800.
(d) Ganda Tua Sihombing faced 10 counts of corruptly obtaining gratification as a reward for advancing the business interests of T3 with PT TAS in August 2019, under Section 6(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Ganda was convicted in September 2019, fined S$20,000 and ordered to pay a penalty of S$13,700.
(e) Tham Peck Kay faced seven counts of corruptly accepting gratification as a reward for advancing the business interests of T3 with Costa, under Section 6(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Tham was convicted on 24 November 2021, fined S$1,500 and ordered to pay a penalty of S$1,100.
4. Poh Tien Chin Raymond faced six counts of corruptly accepting gratification as a reward for advancing the business interests of T3 with AES on 24 June 2021, under Section 6(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Of the group, he is the last to be sentenced.
5. Singapore adopts a strict zero-tolerance approach towards corruption. Any person who is convicted of a corruption offence can be fined up to S$100,000 or sentenced to imprisonment of up to five years or to both. Any person who commits criminal breach of trust can sentenced to imprisonment for a term of up to seven years, or a fine, or both.
6. Companies are strongly advised to put in place robust procedures in areas such as procurement and internal audit to prevent falling victim to corrupt acts by their employees. Guidance for companies on measures to prevent corruption can be found in PACT: A Practical Anti-Corruption Guide for Businesses in Singapore, which is available on CPIB’s website. Companies are also strongly encouraged to obtain certification under the Singapore Standard (SS) ISO 37001 – Anti-Bribery Management Systems, which is designed to help companies implement or enhance an anti-bribery management system to reduce corporate risk and costs related to bribery.
Reference Links:
Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau