Four Charged for Various Offences in Alleged Schemes Involving S$10 Million

On 10 March 2022, four individuals were charged in Court for various offences in two alleged schemes involving a total of S$10 million. They are:

a) Loh Yew Hui (“Loh”) (羅耀辉, 52-year-old male Singaporean), General Manager of Heineken Asia Pacific Export Pte Ltd (“HAPE”) at the material time;

b) Neo Peh Hoon Hazel (“Hazel”) (梁碧云, 50-year-old female Singaporean). She is the wife of Loh;

c) Chan Poh Kim (“Chan”)(陳寶欽, 63-year-old male Singaporean); and

d) Teo Sue Tshin, Melissa (“Melissa”) (张淑真, 43-year-old female Singaporean), Director of Pines Impex Pte Ltd (“Pines”) and Citrus Impex Pte Ltd (“Citrus”) at the material time.

2. The first alleged scheme pertained to Loh, Hazel, Chan and Melissa engaging in a conspiracy to cheat HAPE. This involved Loh dishonestly concealing from HAPE the fact that Hazel was running the business of Pines, thereby misleading HAPE into awarding a Sale and Purchase Agreement worth about S$6,000,000 to Pines. For this, each individual was charged with one count of an offence under Section 420 read with Section 109 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224.

3. The second alleged scheme pertained to Loh, Hazel and Melissa engaging in a conspiracy to cheat HAPE. This involved Loh dishonestly concealing from HAPE the fact that Hazel was running the business of Citrus, thereby misleading HAPE into selling approximately 21,700 hectolitres of beer products worth about S$4,089,000 to Citrus. For this, each individual was charged with one count of an offence under Section 420 read with Section 109 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224.

4. The four individuals additionally faced charges for allegedly concealing and converting, or facilitating control of the benefits of criminal conduct (ie, the abovementioned cheating offences):

a) Loh and Hazel: Nine charges (of which eight are amalgamated) each for engaging in a conspiracy to conceal and convert their benefits from criminal conduct worth approximately S$2,470,000. Of the sum, approximately S$2,314,000 was allegedly concealed in the bank accounts of Melissa, Hazel and a private entity, and approximately S$156,000 was allegedly converted to payment of debts and for capital injection purposes. This constituted offences under Section 47 of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act, Chapter 65A read with Section 109 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224.

b) Chan: Five charges (of which three are amalgamated) of concealing and converting his benefits from criminal conduct worth approximately S$1,572,000. Of the sum, approximately S$1,291,000 was allegedly concealed in the bank account of another individual, and approximately S$281,000 was allegedly converted to premium payments for insurance policies. This constituted offences under Section 47 of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act, Chapter 65A.

c) Melissa: One charge of providing access to her bank account to Hazel, while having reasonable grounds to believe that this would facilitate Hazel’s control of her benefits of criminal conduct. This constituted an offence under Section 44 of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act, Chapter 65A.

5. The above offences were allegedly committed between March 2017 and July 2019.

6. Any person who is convicted of a cheating offence under Section 420 of the Penal Code shall be sentenced to imprisonment of up to ten years and shall also be liable to a fine. Any person who is convicted of a money laundering offence under Section 44 or Section 47 of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act shall be sentenced to imprisonment of up to ten years or fined up to S$500,000 or to both.

7. The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) looks into all corruption-related complaints and reports, including anonymous ones, and can be reached via the following channels:

a) Lodge an e-Complaint;
b) Email us at report@cpib.gov.sg;
c) Call the Duty Officer at 1800-376-0000; or
d) Write to us at the CPIB Headquarters @ 2 Lengkok Bahru, S159047.

8. Where possible, the report should include the following information:

a) Where, when and how the alleged corrupt act happened?
b) Who was involved and what were their roles?
c) What was the bribe given and the favour shown?

CORRUPT PRACTICES INVESTIGATION BUREAU