Car Dealership Manager Jailed & Fined for Involvement in Corruption Conspiracy With 3 Others

Due to the high costs of maintaining a car in this tiny country, getting customers to rent a vehicle from your dealership company can be a tough task.

One way you can attract more customers is to advertise heavily or launch promotions.

Or, as these four men did, you could bribe your way to profits.

4 Men Involved in Corruption Conspiracy With Lion City Rentals

In the scam, the managers of two car dealerships were found to have offered bribes to a purchasing manager at Lion City Rentals.

The four men involved are:

• Ong Jiajie, 32: the manager of car dealership D&M Capital
• Darren Zeng Shao Rong, 40: the manager and partner at Aiden Solutions LLP, another car dealership
• Isaac Lai Zhi Yao, 40: he oversaw the financial matters of both companies
• Jeremy Yu Jin Han, 41: the purchasing manager at Lion City Rentals

It all started when Yu, who was a purchasing manager at Lion City Rentals (LCR) at the time, approached the three men in 2015, The Straits Times reported.

Yu’s job entailed procuring vehicles from suppliers for the car rental company then owned by the now-defunct Uber Singapore, which was sold in 2019.

In September of that year, Yu told Ong, Lai, and Zeng of a scheme he had hatched which involved him using his position in LCR to appoint D&M and Aiden as vehicle suppliers to the company in return for bribes.

The bribes amounted to half of their total profits from the arrangement.

Ong was aware the arrangement was unlawful, but agreed to it to improve his standard of living. Lai and Zeng agreed to the request as well.

The following year, Yu received bribes from the trio on two occasions amounting to $171,000. This was for acquiring 200 vehicles supplied by Aiden and D&M for Lion City Rentals.

Ong received $129,422 from the corrupt arrangement.

Last year, all four men were charged with allegedly taking part in the corruption conspiracy involving more than $388,000.

While the cases of Yu, Zeng, and Lai are still ongoing, Ong has learnt his fate.

Jailed for 6 Months, Fined Nearly $130,000

Today (11 May), 32-year-old Ong was sentenced to six months in prison and fined $129,422 after pleading guilty to two corruption charges earlier.

Another five similar charges were taken into consideration during sentencing. If he fails to pay the fine, another 10 weeks will be added to his jail sentence.

For each corruption charge, Ong could have been jailed for up to five years, fined up to $100,000, or both.

Now, if you’re intending to buy a car, you might also want to watch this video to the end:

Feature Image: Dan Henson / Shutterstock.com