Sentenced To Imprisonment For Corruption Involving S$1.24 million

On 2 September 2021, Foo Yung Thye Henry (Fu Yongtai Henry) (符永泰, 47-year-old male Singaporean) [“Foo”], a former Deputy Group Director of the Land Transport Authority [“LTA”], was sentenced to 66 months' imprisonment for corruption. A penalty order in the sum of S$1,156,250 (in default, 12 months’ imprisonment) was imposed.

2. Investigations revealed that between 2014 and 2019, Foo had corruptly obtained gratification amounting to S$1.24 million in the form of loans from various LTA contractors/sub-contractors to advance their business interests with LTA.

3. Foo’s responsibilities at the LTA included taking charge over the construction of MRT stations and tunnels. Foo was also one of the evaluating personnel for LTA contracts and subcontracts under the Thomson-East Coast Line and Cross Island Line. Foo has since resigned from LTA on 19 September 2019. During the course of his work, Foo had gotten acquainted with the various contractors/sub-contractors. In total, these contractors/sub-contractors had approximately S$815 million worth of contracts with LTA, which Foo oversaw.

4 .To pay off his outstanding personal debts, Foo approached the contractors/sub-contractors and obtained loans even though he knew that doing so would place him in a position of conflict of interest. Foo knew that, due to his position in LTA, the contractors/sub-contractors would believe that he was in a position to make things difficult for them and/or advance their business interests with LTA.

5. Due to the loans Foo received from the various contractors/sub-contractors, Foo felt beholden to them and advanced their business interests by extending assistance where he could. Among other things, Foo provided confidential information relating to LTA tenders and advised on technical requirements regarding forthcoming projects. The loans obtained by Foo from the contractors/sub-contractors were only partially repaid or not repaid at all.

6. In summary, Foo had corruptly obtained the following loans :

a) S$285,000 from Cai Jungang (蔡军刚, 57-year-old, male People’s Republic of China national) [“Cai”], Director of Tritech Group Limited [“Tritech”] and related companies at the material time;

b) S$325,000 from Zhang Xihu (张喜虎, 53-year-old, male Singaporean) [“Zhang”], Director of MEPT Engineering Pte Ltd [“MEPT”] at the material time;

c) S$350,000 from Pay Teow Heng (白朝榮, 53-year-old, male Singaporean) [“Pay’] and Pek Lian Guan (白連源, 56-year-old, male Singaporean) [“Pek”], respectively the Director and Managing Director of Tiong Seng Contractors (Private) Limited [“Tiong Seng”] at the material time;

d) S$50,000 from Ro Sungyoung (49-year-old, male Republic of Korea national) [“Ro”] and Kim Young-Gyu (52-year-old, male Republic of Korea national) [“Kim”], respectively the Project Manager and Project Director of Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co Ltd [“Daewoo”] at the material time;

e) S$220,000 from Xi Zhengbing [“Xi”] and Zhou Zhonghe [“Zhou”], respectively the Director and Deputy Project Director of China Railway Tunnel Group Co., Ltd. (Singapore Branch) [“CRTG”] at the material time; and

f) S$10,000 from Goh Eng Hwee.

7. Separately, Foo also admitted to attempting to obtain gratification in the form of a loan amounting to S$30,000 from Zhou of CRTG in early 2019, to advance CRTG’s business interest with LTA. But Zhou rejected Foo’s request.

8. Foo was charged in Court on 24 July 2020 for 23 counts of corruption, punishable under Section 6(a) read with Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Foo was also charged for cheating his colleagues at the LTA between 2008 and 2019 into extending loans totalling approximately S$726,500 to him by dishonestly concealing from them the fact that the loans were intended to service his gambling habit and debts. These constituted 13 charges punishable under Section 420 of the Penal Code, 11 of which were amalgamated. The cheating charges were taken into consideration for Foo’s sentencing.

9. In relation to the abovementioned corruption offences, Cai, Zhang, Pay and Pek as well as CRTG were correspondingly charged in Court on 24 July 2020 for offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Their cases are still before the Courts. Ro and Kim had also earlier been charged in Court on 24 July 2020. On 23 August 2021, both Ro and Kim were each sentenced to 6 months’ imprisonment on appeal for conspiring to bribe Foo.

10. Singapore adopts a zero-tolerance approach towards corruption and other criminal activities, such as cheating. Any person who is convicted of a corruption offence can be fined up to S$100,000 or sentenced to imprisonment of up to 5 years or to both. The maximum imprisonment term for each offence of corruption can be increased to 7 years if it is in relation to a matter or contract with the Government or public body, or a subcontract to execute work comprised in such contract. Any person convicted of cheating under section 420 of the Penal Code, can be fined and imprisoned for up to 10 years.

11. CPIB looks into all corruption complaints and reports, including anonymous ones, and can be reached via the following channels:

a) Lodge an e-Complaint;
b) Email us at report@cpib.gov.sg;
c) Call the Duty Officer at 1800-376-0000; or
d) Write to us at the CPIB Headquarters @ 2 Lengkok Bahru, S159047.

12. Where possible, the report should include the following information:

a) Where, when and how the alleged corrupt act happened?
b) Who was involved and what were their roles?
c) What was the bribe given and the favour shown?

CORRUPT PRACTICES INVESTIGATION BUREAU