SINGAPORE: A former employee of Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) who received bribes totalling S$200,000 from various contractors has been sentenced to a total of two years and five months’ jail.
From June 2014 to May 2018, Goh Meng Kwee, 53, committed the offences to advance the companies’ business interests with his then employer.
WRS, now known as Mandai Wildlife Group, manages major animal-related tourist attractions such as the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari.
On Monday (May 25), Goh, who is no longer working for the firm, was sentenced to two years’ jail and ordered to pay a $180,000 penalty. He will have to spend an additional 18 weeks behind bars should he fail to pay the penalty.
He pleaded guilty to offences including multiple counts of graft involving $97,000. They involved three men: Neo Chye Koon, Wong Chee Thiam and Ng Thiam Huat.
Deputy public prosecutors Eric Hu and Tan Jun Ya told the court that Goh was a senior project manager in WRS’ exhibit design department at the time of his offences.
He worked closely with the procurement department and was considered a “subject matter expert” on vendors and contractors.
His recommendations on which vendors should be engaged for jobs and projects carried out by WRS carried significant weight, the court heard.
In 2016, Neo and Wong, who were then directors at stainless steel fabrication firm Magnum Precision Industries, met Goh and agreed to give him inducements in return for jobs.
Neo and Wong, both 54 then, were each sentenced to seven months’ jail in October 2023 after pleading guilty to a graft charge involving Goh.
Goh first got to know Neo in 2016 at a social gathering.
One or two months later, he contacted Neo and informed him that there were jobs on offer at the Singapore Zoo.
Goh then arranged for a meeting with Neo and Wong.
At this meeting, Goh offered to invite Magnum to tender for these jobs and to guide them on the tender process if they were willing to pay him $50,000 for his “consultation services” and as an “entrance” to these projects.
Neo and Wong later agreed to pay him the amount in two payments of $25,000 in cash.
The DPPs said: “They... decided to proceed with the payments as they felt that they stood no chance of securing higher-value jobs with WRS if they did not comply with the accused’s request.”
In December 2016, Wong handed $25,000 in cash to Goh, who then provided Magnum with information, such as WRS’ budget for specific projects for which Magnum was placed to bid.
Between April and December 2017, Magnum was awarded with several projects worth more than $440,000 in all.
Similarly, Goh also received more than $70,000 in bribes from Ng, who was then a director at construction services company United Channel Construction & Facility Services.
In earlier proceedings, the court heard that Ng, then 57, managed to secure multiple projects worth more than $420,000 in all.
He was sentenced to 10 months’ jail in April 2023.
Separately, after an earlier trial, Goh was found guilty of a graft charge involving another $50,000. This case involved Tay Chun Hsiong and Fang Yih Uei.
On May 25, Tay, 49, was sentenced to seven months’ jail, and Fang, 38, was ordered to spend six months behind bars. They were each convicted of a graft charge following the earlier trial with Goh.
In their submissions, the DPPs said that Fang withdrew $50,000 in cash that he passed to Tay. The money was then handed to Goh in an envelope in May 2018.
The DPP told the court: “Tay and Fang gave $50,000 as a reward to Goh for using his influence to recommend Tay’s company, Lantro, to Pico Art International for (a project).”
Tay and Fang will be appealing against their convictions and sentences.
In March, Goh was sentenced to five months’ jail and a $20,000 penalty after a district court convicted him of a graft charge involving one Ng Yeow Seng, 63.
Goh will have to spend an additional four weeks behind bars should he fail to pay this $20,000 penalty.
He had received a bribe of $20,000 from Ng Yeow Seng, who was earlier fined $60,000.
The prosecution told the court on May 25 that it will be appealing against the latter’s sentence.
Goh will be serving his sentences consecutively and will spend a total of two years and five months behind bars.
Following his convictions, he had seven other charges that were considered during his sentencing.
His bail was set at $200,000 on May 25, and he is expected to begin serving his sentences on June 22. - The Straits Times/ANN
