SINGAPORE: A former director at the Singapore Zoo, who accepted bribes in a scheme spanning more than a decade and involving at least eight companies, was sentenced to six years’ jail.
He was also ordered to pay a penalty of more than S$2.4 million (US$1.8 million).
Barry Chong Peng Wee, also known as Danial Chong, 58, had pleaded guilty to 19 charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act and a charge of buying property using his criminal proceeds in February.
Another 88 charges of a similar nature were taken into consideration for sentencing.
If Chong does not pay the penalty, he will have to serve 55 months and 743 days in jail, which is roughly around six years and seven months.
On Friday (Apr 25), Deputy Public Prosecutor Kelvin Chong sought a sentence of between 68 and 78 months’ jail and a penalty order of more than S$2.4 million, arguing that Chong was a “central orchestrator of the offences”.
To this, defence lawyer Mervyn Tan said that the term imposed would be “arduous” on the 58-year-old due to his advanced age and health. He urged the court to consider a lighter sentence of 50 months’ jail.
He also urged the court to consider factors for the period that Chong was out on bail, adding that Chong has served as a caregiver for his family while his wife is the sole breadwinner.
“He is paying a heavy price for his 11 years of folly,” the lawyer said, adding that two of Chong’s children “suffer heavily” from autism.
Delivering the sentence, Principal District Judge Toh Han Li said he had considered that the accused was the “focal point” of the scheme and the main receiver of bribes.
He also noted that the duration of offending was long and that significant benefit had been conferred on the accused.
Court documents showed that the corrupt scheme lasted from July 2005 to October 2016, stopping only when the Corrupt Practices Investigations Bureau started investigations.
By then, Chong had obtained no less than S$2,437,862 in gratification. He spent the sum on family cars, stereo systems, food expenses, a coffee machine and shopping for luxury items.
The defence said that it intends to file an appeal against the sentence.
WHAT HAPPENED
The corrupt scheme started around 2005. At the time of the offences, Chong was the director of facilities management at the Singapore Zoological Gardens, a subsidiary of Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), which was renamed Mandai Wildlife Group in 2021.
He managed the upkeep of the zoo premises and procurement requests for rectification works, among other duties.
Chong had the power to approve the awarding of WRS jobs to contractors until 2013, when the job was handed over to a procurement team set up for the same purpose. The procurement team relied heavily on Chong’s recommendations.
Sometime before 2005, Chong and two other people – Toh Siang Bee and Too Say Kiong – entered into an arrangement in which WRS’ jobs would be awarded to Shin Yong Construction in exchange for money.
Under this arrangement, Toh would give money to Chong through Too to ensure that WRS’ jobs were awarded to Shin Yong Construction. Too passed the monies to Chong in envelopes containing cash.
Toh Siang Bee was the founder of Shin Yong Construction, but has since died. His sons Toh Say Yong, 68, and Too, 57, were director and foreman at the company respectively.
After Toh Siang Bee died, Toh Say Yong and Too continued the corrupt arrangement. Chong would send the specifications of each job or project to Too and tell him to bid for a specific price.
Toh Say Yong or Too would ask other contractors to put in bids that were slightly higher to ensure that WRS would award the job to Shin Yong Construction.
After the project or job was awarded to Shin Yong Construction, Chong would put together a handwritten list of jobs for his commission. Toh Say Yong would hand the commission amounts to Too, who then delivered the money to Chong.
The delivery of the money by Chong would occur on a weekly basis.
Sometime late 2013 or early 2014, Chong and Too agreed to look for other contractors to take part in the corrupt scheme.
They roped in two sole proprietors of the companies Katana Engineering and Thiam Lee Tradings Construction, who also began handing money to Chong in envelopes.
The scheme was eventually continued by Toh Say Yong’s son Toh Yong Soon, who began working in Shin Yong Construction between 2010 and 2011.
The son, a project manager, took over Too’s role in operations after Too was removed from Shin Yong Construction due to a dispute.
Toh Yong Soon later roped in various companies Geoscapes, KKS Engineering, Ultron Construction, Hong Power Engineering and KK Iron Engineering, which also paid commission to Chong.
Under this arrangement, Chong would call Toh Yong Soon regularly to inform him of upcoming projects or jobs at WRS for which the five companies and Shin Yong Construction would bid, as well as the specific prices they should bid to be awarded the projects or jobs.
Toh Yong Soon would convey this information to the other five companies.
Chong also met Toh Yong Soon at least once a month for lunch, where he would provide a list of jobs awarded to the companies and indicate the amount of commission he required.
Acting as the middleman, Toh Yong Soon would consolidate the cash from the companies to give to Chong at least once a month.
For their roles in the scheme, Toh Say Yong was sentenced to a year and 10 months’ jail, Toh Yong Soon to three years and three months’ jail and Too to two years and two months’ jail.