SINGAPORE: Fearing that his company’s business might be jeopardised, a chief operating officer ( COO ) agreed to give bribes to a National Library Board ( NLB ) assistant director.
After pleading guilty to two counts of conspiring with Francis Lim Boon Hor and Lien Hoi Choon to bribe Adrian Chan Siew Leng, Tan Lai Heng, then the COO of Broadcast Engineering Services ( BES ), was given a six-month, two-week sentence on Friday ( July 26 ).
Chan was a former NLB associate director before being assigned to the Singaporean National Archives.
These two charges involve S$ 60, 000 ( US$ 44, 650 ) in bribes, given over two occasions. Another cost of a similar nature was taken into account when punishment.  ,
Of the four accused, Tan is the first to have his case heard by the judge. Chan, 49, and Lim, 50, are expected to plead guilty on Aug 6, while 68-year-old Lien’s event is pending.  ,
Tan, 64, became a producer of Bis on Nov 30, 2017, after the agency’s members approached him and Lien to get over their responsibilities.  ,
Tan became COO by April 2018, while Lien was the Chief Financial Officer. Both men discussed and decided significant firm issues head-on. Lim was a sales director in charge of Tan at the time at the time. He became a producer of Bps on Jan 16, 2019.  ,
NLB conducted a tender on October 24, 2017, for a project to strengthen the National Archives of Singapore’s systems and audio and visual infrastructure. Chan was the project manager and a member of the committee that evaluated the sweet proposals.
On February 2, 2018, NLB gave the project to BES, with a cash award of about S$ 8 million before Goods and Services Tax ( GST ).  ,
After Bis handed the task to them, Chan in April 2018 reached out to Lim to ask if Bis would sponsor or sponsor his Master’s program.  ,
Lim told Tan about the demand. Given that this project was one of the largest ever awarded to BES, Tan had the impression that Chan had a significant influence on NLB and did not want to offend him or harm BES ‘ reputation.
He even argued that Bis would continue to fund projects with NLB.  ,
The accused even believed that Chan might be able to stifle and compromise the job in a way that would harm BES. He therefore consented to the demand, according to Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Pei Wei.
Lien even agreed to the demand. Lien suggested that Tan use invoices allegedly issued to Po by foreigners to mask the deal to pay Chan.  ,
Around Apr 3, 2019, Chan approached Lim for funds again. The group agreed to pay Chan S$ 30, 000, drawn from Bis ‘ bank accounts.  ,
In mid-2018, NLB began preparation for a sweet for the source of archive products, services, and fixtures for library facilities at the National Archives of Singapore.  ,
The project manager handling the sweet was Chan’s superior. Chan advised the inferior to get administrative quotes from BES as part of his preparation for the sensitive in response to the money he received from Lim, and she did but in June and September 2018.  ,
When the delicate was finally called on January 10, 2019, Chan was a part of the tender assessment council.  , The commission recommended that Bis been awarded the sweet.
The sweet was awarded to Bis for S$ 3, 171, 170 on Jun 17, 2019.  ,
Tang Shangwei and Dorcas Ong, Tan’s attorneys, requested a three-month prison sentence.  ,
The attorneys argued that, unlike most problem situations, Tan was not motivated by greed.  ,
” He had acted out of fear that any refusal to pay the ( money ) would potentially jeopardise BES ‘ business”, the lawyers said. The accused have consistently stated this since the start of the examinations.
Mr. Tang also pointed out that the injury was” slight” because Tan or BES received little benefit from the incident and that there was no real loss to NLB.  ,
He added that no third group had suffered any damage, nor was there “public discomfort” arising from the crime.
Mr Tang even sought a punishment cheap due to the delay in studies.  ,
Around June 2020, Tan’s role in the investigation was now revealed publicly. Around November 2020, he made his final speech.  ,
” A total of four years have passed since the accused’s second speech, and the very real possibility of being imprisoned has been hanging over his head all this time,” Mr. Tang said.  ,
The accused cannot be minimized because of their anxiety and mental pain.
No real loss from NLB, according to Principal District Judge Jill Tan, were quantified.  ,
She continued, adding that while the level of the benefit derived from BES was difficult to quantify, the work of fostering an insider to improve business interests was a “very true benefit.”  ,
Judge Tan stated that his guilty plea was the main limiting factor in Tan’s circumstance, but this was offset by the fee that was taken into account.  ,
Due to the alleged pause in investigations, the authorities had needed time to assess the level of the offending of all accused people, so she declined to give any sentencing discounts.
For problem, Tan could have been jailed for up to seven times, or fined up to S$ 100, 000 or both.  ,