Charged with Corruption to be Lenient in Supervision of Contractor Work

On 9 September 2020, two individuals were charged in court for allegedly committing the following offences:

a) Cheow Hock Mun (鄒学文), a 49-year-old male Malaysian, and a Health, Environment and Safety Specialist at Chevron Singapore Pte Ltd (“Chevron”) at the material time

i. 3 counts of corruptly obtaining gratification between April 2015 to July 2015, amounting to $6,000, from Lim Gim Chuan (“Lim”), a Director of LGC Engineering & Contractors Pte Ltd (“LGC”), as an inducement for Cheow to exercise leniency in his supervision of the work done by LGC at the Chevron Singapore Lube Oil Blending Plant. These are charges for offences punishable under Section 6(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Chapter 241.

b) Neo Gim Chwee (梁锦水), a 49-year-old male Singaporean, and a Project Manager at Hiap Seng Engineering Ltd (“HSE”) at the material time

i. 4 counts of corruptly obtaining gratification between May 2015 and February 2016, amounting to $20,000, from Lim as an inducement to exercise leniency in Neo’s supervision of the work done by LGC at the Chevron Lube Oil Blending Plant^. These are charges for offences punishable under Section 6(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Chapter 241.

ii. One count of cheating HSE by dishonestly concealing the fact that LGC had delivered a sum of $10,000 (which was the property of HSE) to Neo. Allegedly, this induced HSE to omit reconciling its contractual payments due to LGC as this sum of money was intended for that purpose. This is a charge for an offence punishable under Section 417 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224.

2. In relation to this case, Lim Gim Chuan (林锦源) was charged in court on 10 January 2018. He was found guilty, after a trial, and convicted of four charges under Section 6(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Chapter 241 for giving bribes to Neo. The court also took four other charges, which included the charges for giving bribes to Cheow, into consideration for the purposes of sentencing. Lim was sentenced to 10 weeks’ imprisonment on 10 June 2020.

3. Singapore adopts a strict zero-tolerance approach towards corruption. Any person who is convicted of a corruption offence can be fined up to $100,000 or sentenced to imprisonment of up to 5 years or to both. Any person who is convicted of accepting gratification can also be ordered to pay a penalty, which is a sum equal to the amount of that gratification.

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

a) Write to us at the CPIB Headquarters @ 2 Lengkok Bahru, S159047 or Corruption Reporting & Heritage Centre @ 247 Whitley Road S297830;
b) Call the Duty Officer at 1800-376-0000;
c) Lodge an e-Complaint; or
d) Email us at report@cpib.gov.sg

5. 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

^At the material time, LGC was a sub-contractor of HSE for civil engineering works at the Chevron Singapore Lube Oil Blending Plant.