Wong Eng Kuen, who set up Ultron Construction, committed the graft offences in 2016. - Photo: ST file
SINGAPORE: The director of a construction company gave at least S$192,000 in bribes to a facilities management director at the Singapore Zoological Gardens, now known as the Singapore Zoo.
At the time of the offences, the zoo was a subsidiary of Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), which had awarded jobs worth more than $3.7 million and paid nearly $2.7 million to Ultron Construction.
Now known as the Mandai Wildlife Group, WRS suffered a loss of at least $192,000 due to inflated bids that Ultron had submitted under the corrupt arrangements.
The company director, Wong Eng Kuen, 46, was sentenced to eight months’ jail on Friday (Dec 5) after he pleaded guilty to three graft charges involving at least $140,000 in total. He committed these offences in 2016.
Three other charges relating to the remaining amount were considered during his sentencing.
In April, Barry Chong Peng Wee, then 58, who is no longer working for the zoo, was sentenced to six years’ jail after obtaining more than $2.4 million in bribes from multiple people between 2005 and 2016.
Chong, whom the prosecution described as the “central orchestrator” of the graft offences, was also ordered to pay a penalty of more than $2.4 million.
He would have to spend an additional six years, seven months and 13 days behind bars should he fail to pay the amount.
Another accomplice Toh Yong Soon, then 39, was sentenced to three years and three months’ jail in May 2024. He is Wong’s brother-in-law.
He was working for another company called Shin Yong Construction (SYC) at the time of the offences.
In earlier proceedings, the court heard that Toh’s grandfather had set up SYC before he died in 2004.
Two of Toh’s family members – his father and his uncle – then carried on the company’s business.
In 2005, these two older men entered into a corrupt arrangement with Chong.
As part of the deal, Chong would ensure that WRS jobs were awarded to SYC in exchange for cash.
Toh joined SYC in 2009 and found out about the plan later.
His father and uncle have since been dealt with in court.
In late 2015, Toh and his uncle had a falling out, and the older man was removed from SYC.
Toh, who took over SYC’s operations from his uncle, later agreed to continue with the corrupt arrangement.
The invoices or quotations SYC submitted to WRS would be marked up so that Chong would obtain the inflated value as “commission”, the court heard.
Toh also agreed to recruit other contractors to join the corrupt arrangement. According to court documents, he later roped in multiple men linked to other firms.
For the current case, deputy public prosecutors Kelvin Chong, Shamini Joseph and Darren Sim stated in court documents that Toh then engaged Ultron through Wong.
The DPPs told the court that Wong had set up Ultron in November 2015 on Toh’s suggestion.
They said: “Although (Wong) had no prior experience in the construction business, he agreed to set up Ultron as Yong Soon told him that he could recommend jobs from WRS to Ultron and would teach him the ropes.
“(Wong) understood that Yong Soon would pass monies to someone in WRS, which investigations have revealed to be Barry, in order for WRS to award jobs to Ultron.”
Under this corrupt arrangement, Chong would phone Toh on a regular basis and inform him about upcoming WRS jobs or projects that Ultron could bid for.
Chong would also tell Toh the specific prices that they should bid to clinch the projects.
These prices were marked up by at least 20 per cent to account for the commissions to be paid to Chong.
Toh later told Wong the recommended prices, and the latter then made bids for WRS jobs by using the marked-up prices that Toh had provided to him.
Chong would also meet Toh at least once a month for lunch.
During these meals, he would provide Toh with a list of jobs that were awarded to various contractors, including Ultron.
As part of the corrupt arrangement, Chong would also indicate the amount of “commission” that he required for each job.
Toh consolidated the money from the contractors, which included Wong, and passed the funds to Chong.
Toh gave gratification to Chong in the form of cash at least once a month, said the DPPs.
The prosecutors added: “The giving of corrupt gratification to obtain jobs with WRS circumvented the procurement processes that WRS has in place.
“These processes were implemented to ensure that contractors were given a fair chance to win WRS jobs, and WRS obtained works at a competitive price. The circumvention of these processes resulted in WRS overpaying for works across the period of offending.”
Court documents did not disclose how the offences came to light, but in October 2016, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau started its investigation into the unlawful arrangement, bringing the scheme to an end. - The Straits Times/ANN
