Five Men Charged for Alleged Corruption Offences
On 28 February 2023, the following five individuals were charged in Court for allegedly committing corruption offences. They are:
a) Yang Xiaoyi (“Yang”) (杨孝义, 41-year-old male Singaporean), Director of Ocean Enterprise (INT) Pte Ltd (“Ocean Enterprise”) at the material time;
b) Tan Kee Kok (“Tan”) (陈旗国, 49-year-old male Singaporean), Project Manager of ISOTEAM Projects Pte Ltd (“ISOTeam Projects”) at the material time;
c) Lin Jinhua (“Lin”) (林金华, 45-year-old male Chinese National), Manager of Ocean Enterprise (INT) Pte Ltd (“Ocean Enterprise”) at the material time;
d) Nyo Bak Wei (“Nyo”) (杨牧溈, 51-year-old male Singaporean), Project Manager of Kemvet Commercial Builders (“Kemvet”) at the material time; and
e) Chan Chong Wai (Zheng Changwei) (“Chan”) (郑昌炜, 50-year-old male Singaporean), Project Manager of Hak Kian Enterprise Pte Ltd (“Hak Kian”) at the material time.
2. Between February 2016 to November 2017, Yang was alleged to have corruptly given gratifications totalling S$43,000 to Tan over seven occasions, in return for advancing the business interests of Ocean Enterprise with ISOTeam Projects.
3. Yang was also alleged to have conspired with Lin to corruptly give gratifications totalling about S$10,200 to Nyo over three occasions, and S$2,400 to Chan on one occasion, between September 2015 to September 2016. These were in return for advancing the business interests of Ocean Enterprise with Nyo’s and Chan’s respective companies, Kemvet and Hak Kian.
4. For their alleged actions, the five men face the following charges:
a) Yang Xiaoyi
i. Eleven charges for offences punishable under Section 6(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, of which four charges are read with Section 29(a) of the said Act.
b) Tan Kee Kok
i. Seven charges for offences punishable under Section 6(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
c) Lin Jinhua
i. Four charges for offences punishable under Section 6(b) read with Section 29(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
d) Nyo Bak Wei
i. Three charges for offences punishable under Section 6(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
e) Chan Chong Wai (Zheng Zhang Wei)
i. One charge for an offence punishable under Section 6(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 under Section 6 of the Prevention of Corruption Act can be fined up to S$100,000 or sentenced to imprisonment of up to five years 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