Former BCA Officer Jailed for Corruption

It is illegal for public officers to abuse their position to obtain bribes. Those who do so will face serious consequences. On 6 October 2021, Tan Ming Lie (陈明烈, a 32-year-old male Singapore Citizen) (“Tan”), was sentenced to 8 weeks’ imprisonment and ordered to pay a penalty of S$600 for corruption offences. At the material time, Tan was a Temporary Inspection Officer of the Building and Construction Authority (“BCA”).

2. As a Temporary Inspection Officer with the BCA, Tan was responsible for conducting inspections on construction sites and dormitories to ensure that relevant safe management measures (“SMM”) are adhered to, and to follow up on any non-compliances found. On 24 November 2020, Tan was assigned to inspect a construction site managed by Domain Trading & Construction Pte Ltd (“Domain Trading”) at 69 Begonia Drive. Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau’s (CPIB) investigations revealed that when Tan contacted a General Manager of Domain Trading through Whatsapp to arrange the inspection time, Tan sent his personal name card indicating himself to be a Safety & Sales Manager of Angelshield Safety Consultant Pte Ltd (“Angelshield”), and informed the General Manager of Domain Trading that he also provided other types of services.

3. During the actual site inspection on 25 November 2020, Tan told the site staff that the SMM monitoring plan was insufficient and that Domain Trading would not be able to draft a proper SMM plan within the 48 hours timeline to submit to BCA. The General Manager of Domain Trading then called Tan, who gave the impression that Domain Trading might be issued with a stop works order if they do not comply immediately with a proper SMM plan. Afraid that Tan would harshly report to BCA on Domain Trading’s non-compliance, the General Manager of Domain Trading engaged Angelshield’s service to draft a SMM plan for a fee of S$600, and made the payment to Tan by cheque sometime in December 2020.

4 . Another charge under the Prevention of Corruption Act was taken into consideration during Tan’s sentencing. For his actions, Tan was previously charged in Court on 27 August 2021.

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. 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.

6. 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 ↗ (opens in new tab);
c) Call the Duty Officer at 1800-376-0000; or
d) Write to us at the CPIB Headquarters @ 2 Lengkok Bahru, S159047.

7. 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