Bribes for Bike Rejected

On 29 January 2021, Wong Swee Liang (“Wong”) (王绥量), a 58-year-old shipping executive was sentenced to 3 weeks’ imprisonment for attempting to bribe an enforcement officer from the Land Transport Authority (LTA).

2. Wong was earlier charged in court on 21 June 2019 with one count of corruptly offering gratification of $100 to Ang Norris, an LTA enforcement officer. This was to induce Officer Ang Norris to refrain from seizing a bicycle belonging to oBike Asia Pte Ltd (“oBike”), and is an offence punishable under Section 6(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Chapter 241.

3. Investigations revealed that on 21 December 2018, Wong was informed by his colleague that the oBike bicycle he had parked at his office premises was being taken away by Abdul Hakim bin Abdul Hamid and Ang Norris, both of whom are LTA Enforcement Officers. Wong approached the two officers and asked if he could purchase the bicycle from LTA. His request was turned down by both officers, and he was advised to approach LTA officially if he had other queries. Wong then offered $50 to Officer Ang Norris to induce him to refrain from seizing the bicycle. Officer Ang Norris rejected the bribe, and warned Wong that his actions constituted attempted bribery. Undaunted by the warning, Wong took out his wallet and offered Officer Ang Norris $100 instead. Officer Ang Norris rejected the bribe again, and the matter was subsequently referred to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau.

4. It is a serious offence to bribe, or attempt to bribe public officers. Any person who is convicted of a corruption offence can be fined up to $100,000 or sentenced to imprisonment of up to five years or to both.

5. The CPIB looks into all corruption complaints and reports, including anonymous ones, and can be reached via the following channels:

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

Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau