Jail for Singaporean man who cheated firm of over S$170,000 and gave woman S$40,000 bribe


On Jan 20, Alvin Yap Chin Chye, 50, pleaded guilty to a graft charge and three counts of cheating. - Photo: ST

SINGAPORE: A man who cheated his then employer of more than S$170,000 and gave a bribe of nearly S$40,500 to a co-director of another firm was sentenced to a year and seven weeks’ jail on Thursday (Jan 23).

On Jan 20, Alvin Yap Chin Chye, 50, pleaded guilty to a graft charge and three counts of cheating.

Yap, who obtained more than $60,000 in “secret profits” after committing the offences, has since made full restitution.

At the time of the offences, he was the sales director of Geekplus SG, the Singapore-based subsidiary of Hong Kong-incorporated Geekplus International Company, which provided automated solutions for the logistics industry.

Court documents stated that Yap had bribed a woman identified as Lee Mui Sim, 54, who was then a co-director and co-shareholder of ECT Asia, a firm that purportedly provided consultancy services.

At the time, Lee was also a logistics director at Henatenn Holdings, which operated in the beauty and fragrances industry.

Her husband Alex Quek Chin Hock, 50, was allegedly involved in some of the offences. Quek was then also a co-director and co-shareholder of ECT Asia.

The cases involving Lee, who is also known as Ashelyn, and Quek are pending.

In earlier proceedings, the court heard that in March 2021, Henatenn’s managing director tasked Lee to source for vendors to automate a warehouse owned by one of its subsidiaries.

Lee got to know about Geekplus SG and later that year, discussions were held with Yap, who was a business contact of Quek.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Vishnu Menon told the court that during further discussions, Quek asked for a commission in exchange for helping Geekplus SG secure the contract from Henatenn.

Yap agreed to the commission, which was to be split equally among him, Quek and Lee.

The DPP added that Yap understood that this “commission” was, in fact, a corrupt payment to be made to Lee to show “special favour” to Geekplus SG in relation to the contract.

Court documents stated that Lee later made recommendations for Geekplus SG to be given the contract valued at more than US$2 million (S$2.7 million).

Yap and Henatenn’s managing director signed the contract on Dec 31, 2021.

DPP Menon also said that in April and September 2022, Quek submitted to Geekplus SG invoices for more than $101,000 in total for “consultancy services” that ECT Asia did not provide in reality.

Geekplus’ managing director approved these payments and the money was transferred from Geekplus International’s bank account to one belonging to ECT Asia.

The prosecutor said that on Jan 4, 2023, Lee withdrew more than $20,000 to give Yap his share of the deal and kept a portion of the money, which included the bribe amount.

In a separate incident, on July 21, 2022, Lee found out that Henatenn had to buy five robots from Geekplus SG.

Geekplus’ financial department then quoted her a sum of US$35,000 for each robot.

The prosecutor said that Lee, Quek and Yap agreed to mark up the price of each robot by US$10,000 and share the money among themselves.

Court documents stated that on Oct 30, 2022, Yap collected his share of the money – $22,500 in cash – from Quek.

In another incident, Geekplus SG urgently needed a space to store certain pieces of equipment in October 2021.

Yap found an office space in Tannery Lane near MacPherson Road. Its owner was one of his business associates, who agreed to let Geekplus SG use the space for free from October 2021 to January 2022.

DPP Menon said: “(Yap) decided to use this as an opportunity to make some money off Geekplus SG.

“On the accused’s instructions, (Quek) created three fictitious invoices bearing ECT Asia’s letterhead, which claimed that ECT Asia had temporarily rented out the space to Geekplus SG.”

On Jan 3, 2022, Geekplus’ managing director approved a payment of $3,000 to ECT Asia’s bank account.

Court documents stated that Lee withdrew the money and her husband handed the cash to Yap.

Yap’s bail was set at $65,000 on Jan 23, and he is expected to begin serving his sentence on Feb 13. - The Straits Times/ANN

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