Four individuals have been charged in court over an alleged corruption scheme involving more than S$530,000 in bribes.
Offences include money laundering, forgery and giving false information to a public officer.
The accused include two company directors, a former engineering manager and a former shift engineer.
According to a statement by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) on Wednesday (1 July), those charged are:
Source: BSM Scandinavia
The alleged offences took place between 2021 and 2022.
CPIB alleged that between July and December 2021, Mr Lim and Mr Tan conspired to give Mr Logeswaran gratification totalling S$220,000 through cash cheques and bank transfers.
The payments were allegedly made to induce him to assist San Hoe and further its business interests with REC.
In July 2022, Mr Logeswaran allegedly attempted to obtain an additional S$310,000 from the pair for the same purpose.
Separately, in April 2022, he allegedly offered his supervisor at REC S$1,500 in cash to avoid being reported to management for breaching the company’s standard operating procedures.
For the alleged corruption offences, Mr Lim and Mr Tan each face four charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act, while Mr Logeswaran faces six corruption-related charges.
Mr Panneerselvam is accused of helping to move money that allegedly represented corrupt benefits received by Mr Logeswaran.
According to CPIB, he allegedly encashed two cash cheques worth a total of S$30,000 from San Hoe in 2021.
Source: San Hoe Hardware
He also allegedly transferred S$115,000 received in H&A Engineering’s bank account before handing the money over to Logeswaran in cash on several occasions.
He faces three money laundering charges under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act.
Apart from the alleged corruption offences, Mr Logeswaran also faces charges of forgery and false information.
CPIB alleged that in October 2021, he created two false invoices under H&A Engineering for technical support and decommissioning work that had not actually been carried out. The invoices were allegedly intended to induce payments from Mr Lim and Mr Tan.
He is also accused of providing false information to a CPIB investigation officer in October 2022, claiming that another individual had received corrupt gratification through an H&A receipt, despite allegedly knowing the information was false.
According to CPIB, the false statement was intended to cause an investigation against that individual.
CPIB reiterated that Singapore adopts a strict zero-tolerance approach towards corruption.
Those convicted under the Prevention of Corruption Act may face fines of up to S$100,000, imprisonment of up to five years, or both.
“Organisations are strongly advised to put in place robust financial procedures, in areas such as procurement, to prevent falling victim to corrupt acts by their rogue employees.”
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Featured image adapted from BSM Scandinavia and San Hoe Hardware.