Three Charged with Alleged Corruption for Advancing Business Interests

On 8 October 2021, three individuals will be charged in Court for alleged corruption offences, where the accused persons allegedly sought to advance the business interests of Honfoong Plastic Industries Pte Ltd (“Honfoong”) with JMS Singapore Pte Ltd (“JMS”). They are:

a) Wong Liang Tong (“Wong”) (黄良忠, 71-year-old male Singapore Citizen), a Director of Honfoong at the material time;

b) Toh Mui Lan (“Toh”) (卓美蓮, 61-year-old female Singapore Citizen), a Deputy Managing Partner of Honfoong at the material time; and

c) Tea Lay Sin (“Tea”) (郑丽心, 50-year-old female Singapore Citizen), a Senior Vice President of Honfoong at the material time.

2. Wong is alleged to have conspired with Toh on nine occasions between 2010 and 2018, and to have conspired with Tea on one occasion between December 2019 and January 2020 to corruptly give gratification, totalling S$31,000 for the 10 occasions, to one Lim Heng Jew (“Lim”), a Section Manager of JMS, as reward for advancing the business interests of Honfoong with JMS. For his actions, Wong faces 10 charges for offences punishable under Section 6(b) read with Section 29(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

3. For Toh’s part, in addition to the nine occasions which she had allegedly conspired with Wong, she had on her own corruptly given gratification to Lim on one occasion in 2019, as a reward for advancing the business interests of Honfoong with JMS. The corrupt gratification amounted to a total sum of S$29,000 for the 10 occasions. For her actions, Toh faces the following charges:

(a) Nine charges for offences punishable under Section 6(b) read with Section 29(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act; and

(b) One charge for an offence punishable under Section 6(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

4. Between December 2019 and January 2020, Tea is alleged to have conspired with Wong on one occasion to corruptly give gratification of S$5,000 to Lim, as reward for advancing the business interests of Honfoong with JMS. For her action, Tea faces one charge for an offence punishable under Section 6(b) read with Section 29(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

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.

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:

• PACT: A Practical Anti-Corruption Guide for Businesses in Singapore
  

• SS ISO 37001

Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau