As it is in many other countries, “bribe” is a dirty word in Singapore.
Typically, it’s offered to a police officer in hopes that they’ll turn a blind eye to an offence, something we’ve seen numerous times in movies.
But bribes can also be offered for valuable information, information that could help in your business dealings.
If you take up such offers, you might enjoy your newfound wealth for some time, but eventually, the law will catch up with you.
Former SMRT Employee Took More Than $54,000 in Bribes from Suppliers
Since 2015, 43-year-old Soh Choon Heng has been taking bribes from suppliers.
At the time of the offences, Soh was working for SMRT as an assistant buyer. Assitant buyers typically coordinate purchasing and service orders to maintain certain supplies.
In 2016, a director of a supply firm – Yong Ming Jun from Euro Bremse – offered Soh a bribe in return for information of quotations that competitor vendors submitted to SMRT, as it’d help their business dealings with the transport operator.
Between 2016 and 2020, Soh received at least S$24,450 in bribes from Yong.
He first started taking bribes for this reason in 2015 from another director, Won Jong from Alturan Pte Ltd, where he received S$900.
He struck yet another illegal deal with Wong King Mooi from CEE Technologies between 2017 and 2019, taking S$28,700.
Soh also allegedly forged signatures on several occasions; in 2017 he forged the signature of an SMRT procurement manager on two letters of agreement.
He later forged the signature of the operator’s director of procurement on two supply contracts.
In total, Soh received more than S$54,000 in bribes.
Facing Nine Charges; Could Be Jailed if Convicted
Today (20 Aug), Soh was handed nine charges for his offences, including forgery and corruption.
He is currently out on bail of S$50,000 and will return to court on 8 Sep.
As for Yong and Wong, the directors, they were handed five and three corruption charges respectively and will return to court on 16 Aug.
If convicted of corruption, the men can be jailed for up to five years, fined up to S$100,000, or both.
The penalty for forgery is an imprisonment term of up to four years, a fine, or both.
Corruption Reports Hit 5-year Low
COVID-19 has not just affected ordinary folks like you and me, it’s also had an impact on illegal dealing as well.
That’s why corruption-related reports fell to a five-year low in 2020, with 239 reports filed.
This was 31% less than the 350 reported in 2019 and 358 in 2018.
Hopefully, this trend will continue even after we reopen our economy, but I’m not holding my breath.
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Featured Image: Tea Talk/shutterstock.com
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