Construction Site Manager Sentenced to Jail for Corruption

On 2 May 2019, Muthukaruppan Periyasamy, a Site Manager of Fenzhii Engineering Services Pte Ltd and Ramo Industries Pte Ltd was sentenced to six weeks’ imprisonment for offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

2. Periyasamy (a 52-year-old male Indian National), was previously charged on 18 January 2019 with five counts of corruptly giving gratification totalling $1,600 to Tung Chee Keong and Chandran Jeganathan (former employees of pest control company Killem Pest Pte Ltd), as a reward for providing advance notification of upcoming mosquito breeding inspections by Killem Pest Pte Ltd. These constituted offences punishable under Section 6(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Chapter 241. Tung and Jeganathan were earlier sentenced to jail on 18 March 2019 for corresponding offences of accepting gratification under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

3. Investigations revealed that Periyasamy had offered to pay Tung and Jeganathan a sum of $400 a month for advance notification of upcoming mosquito breeding inspections at a construction site he was overseeing. Subsequently in May, June, July and August 2018, Jeganathan informed Periyasamy of impending inspections on four occasions and Periyasamy separately passed $400 to either Jeganathan or Tung for each month. The monies were split between Tung and Jeganathan, with Tung receiving a total of $1,000 and Jeganathan receiving $600.

4. Singapore adopts a strict zero-tolerance approach towards corruption. It is a serious offence to give or accept bribes from another individual or entity. Corrupt acts which compromise mosquito breeding controls can pose a serious danger to public health safety and should be dealt with resolutely. 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.

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

a) Visit or 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

Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau