Ex-SMU Associate Director Charged for Accepting S$472,000 Worth of Bribes

Bribery. A notion that’s prevalent in crime movies;

And an aspect that’s present in sunny Singapore as well.

Ex-SMU Associate Director Charged for Accepting S$472,000 Worth of Bribes

A former Singapore Management University associate director has been charged in court for the acceptance of corrupt payments.

Or in other words, bribery.

In total, Christopher Tan Toh Nghee, 43, was said to have accepted S$472,000 worth of bribes – a figure accumulated over two years, more than 50 occasions and from three different directors.

The acceptance period reportedly lasted from August 2017 to November 2019.

Meanwhile, the payors in question are the director of International Alliance Marketing Kenneth Lum Hsien Loong, director of CJ Synergy Cher Kheng Than and the managing director of Assetualize Jeffery Long Chee Kin.

They were also charged in court on 23 March 2021.

50 Charges

Apparently, the payments were made in hopes of convincing Tan to “advance the business interest of their companies with the university”.

In light of the offence, Tan faces 50 charges for “corrupt transactions with agents under Section 6(a) read with Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act”.

Lum faces 35 charges, Cher faces seven charges, and Long faces eight charges “under Section 6(b) read with Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act” for alleged bribery.

Additionally, Tan and Cher face one separate charge of lying to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), as well as one charge of “intentionally obstructing the course of justice”, which is related to this case.

Apparently, Tan had lied that a sum of money that he received – from June to October 2019 – was actually for a loan payment.

He also allegedly deleted a record-containing electronic note from his phone on 29 November 2019.

Sentencing

All four men are due to return to court on 20 April.

For corruption, a person could face a fine of up to S$100,000, a jail term of up to five years or both.

For purposeful deception in a corruption case, a person could face a fine of up to S$10,000, a jail term of up to one year, or both.

For intentionally hindering the course of justice, a person could face a fine, a jail term of up to seven years, or both.

CPIB has since stated that Singapore adopts a “strict zero-tolerance approach towards corruption and other criminal activities”.

“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,” said CPIB.

Bribery

Unfortunately, such practices are not exactly non-existent in Singapore.

From 2014 to 2017, two former Shell employees gave out bribes to 10 employees from various surveying companies.

They were the rewards for reporting inaccurate amounts of gas oil that were loaded onto the vessels, which were slated to be inspected.

And more recently, a 43-year-old Singaporean company director tried to bribe his way out of quarantine by offering RM100 (S$33) to a Malaysia customs officer.

Though it may have worked in previous times, bribery in Malaysian is certainly not as plausible now, what with improved anti-corruption practices.

Suffice to say; the director was arrested.

Featured Image: Danny Ye / Shutterstock.com