Three Charged with Corruption and Cheating Offences

On 16 July 2021, three individuals will be charged in court for corruption and cheating offences. They are:

a) Liaw Jinle (“Liaw”) (廖晉樂, 33-year-old male Singapore Citizen), a Laboratory Executive with the Centre for Advanced 2D Materials (the “Centre”) of the National University of Singapore (“NUS”) at the material time;

b) Gan Yee Aun (“Gan”) (顏怡安, 34-year-old male Singapore Citizen), Director of HOH Multitrade Pte Ltd and Laco Management Pte Ltd, and Sole Proprietor of Ian OTM Services and GW Ways Enterprise at the material time; and

c) Tan Wei Jie, Sandy (“Tan”) (陳伟杰, 33-year-old male Singapore Citizen), Sole Proprietor of WJK Tan Trading and Infinity Dynamic Consultancy and Services at the material time.

Alleged offences relating to Liaw and Gan

2. Liaw and Gan are alleged to have conspired to cheat the NUS from November 2017 to February 2020. It is alleged that as part of their scheme, they agreed that they would split the profits from procurement jobs that Liaw assisted Gan’s companies to obtain with the Centre, and cheated NUS by dishonestly concealing Liaw’s interest in the profits of the transactions. It is alleged that in total, pursuant to the conspiracy, Gan’s companies were allegedly awarded 72 jobs for the supply of laboratory goods and services totalling about $196,500, of which some were short-supplied or not supplied at all. In addition, Gan allegedly provided Liaw with false supporting quotations with intent to mislead NUS into awarding jobs to Gan’s companies. Consequently, it is alleged that NUS made payment to Gan’s companies in respect of the awarded jobs, which it would not have done had it known the true state of affairs.

Alleged offences relating to Liaw and Tan

3. Liaw is also alleged to have conspired with Tan to cheat the NUS from March 2019 to December 2019, in a similar scheme to that between Liaw and Gan. In total, Liaw allegedly assisted Tan’s companies to obtain 40 procurement jobs with the Centre, for the supply of laboratory goods and services totalling about $136,700, of which some were short-supplied. Liaw’s interest in the transactions was dishonestly concealed from NUS. In addition, Tan allegedly provided Liaw with false supporting quotations with intent to mislead NUS into awarding jobs to Tan’s companies. Consequently, it is alleged that NUS made payment to Tan’s companies in respect of the awarded jobs, which it would not have done had it known the true state of affairs.

Charges

4. For his actions, Liaw faces five amalgamated charges of abetment by conspiracy to cheat, which is punishable under Section 420 read with Section 109 of the Penal Code and Section 124(4) of the Criminal Procedure Code. Liaw also faces six charges under Section 6(c) of the Prevention of Corruption Act (Chapter 241) relating to the provision of false quotes.

5. For his actions, Gan faces three amalgamated charges of abetment by conspiracy to cheat, which is punishable under Section 420 read with Section 109 of the Penal Code and Section 124(4) of the Criminal Procedure Code. Gan also faces four charges under Section 6(c) of the Prevention of Corruption Act (Chapter 241) relating to the provision of false quotes.

6. For his actions, Tan faces two amalgamated charges of abetment by conspiracy to cheat, which is punishable under Section 420 read with Section 109 of the Penal Code and Section 124(4) of the Criminal Procedure Code. Tan also faces two charges under Section 6(c) of the Prevention of Corruption Act (Chapter 241) relating to the provision of false quotes.

7. Singapore adopts a strict 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. Any person who is convicted of cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code can be sentenced to imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years, and also be liable to a fine.

8. 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