SINGAPORE: A former senior vice-president at Singapore Post went on trial on Monday (Jan 9) for charges of cheating the company into paying him a salary of S$8,000, and for attempting to seek a bribe of S$1 million.
Liang An Wey, 47, is contesting a charge each of cheating and attempting to get the bribe from the chief operating officer of a subcontractor for SingPost.
According to a set of documents containing facts agreed on by both the prosecution and the defence, a recruiter submitted Liang’s curriculum vitae (CV) to SingPost in June 2013 for the position of VP, Project Execution.
In his CV, Liang said he had been employed as head of project management at GSM Holdings since August 2012. He claimed that his salary was S$12,500 with another S$2,000 in fixed transport allowance.
SingPost interviewed Liang and offered him the job. He was given a form on Jul 12, 2013, and told to complete the application for appointment if he wanted to accept the job offer.
Liang accepted the job immediately and completed the form, stating that he had been a director at GSM with a salary of S$12,500 and S$2,000 in allowance.
However, Liang was not formally employed by GSM and was never a director there. Instead, he had assisted his friend, Mr Tan Yew Seng, who was a director and shareholder at GSM.
Liang assisted Mr Tan on an ad hoc basis, primarily with a factory that GSM was building in Senoko Loop, as Mr Tan was unfamiliar with building permits.
Mr Tan had made at least one verbal offer to pay Liang, but the agreement was never formalised and there was no contract of employment, any salary given, nor any Central Provident Fund contributions provided to Liang.
According to the cheating charge, Liang is accused of inducing SingPost to give him a salary of S$8,000 between June and July 2013 by providing false information regarding his employment history and remuneration.
The corruption charge states that Liang tried to solicit a bribe of S$1 million from chief operating officer of Bintai Kindenko, Mr Wong Siaw Fun sometime between March and June 2015.
In exchange, he would recommend Bintai as a preferred subcontractor for air conditioning, mechanical ventilation, electrical installation and security works for construction work at the SingPost Centre in Eunos Road, the charge sheet stated.
According to the agreed statement of facts, Liang worked on the SingPost Centre project, which redeveloped the retail portion of the centre to increase rental yield by increasing available retail space and modernising the infrastructure.
On Mar 2, 2015, SingPost invited contractors to submit tenders for the project.
One of the main contractors, Shimizu, submitted a tender offer after liaising with potential subcontractors. Bintai Kindenko was included in its list of specialist subcontractors to carry out air-conditioning and mechanical ventilation installation, electrical installation and security system works.
Sometime between March and June 2015, Liang allegedly met the CEO of Bintai, Mr Wong Siaw Fun, at a coffee shop near Liang’s home.
They discussed the possibility of a bribe, but no bribe was ultimately paid or received.
The contract for the SingPost Centre project was later awarded to Shimizu, and the subcontract for air-conditioning and mechanical ventilation installation was given to another company, D-Team Engineering, instead.
Liang is defended by lawyers Eugene Thuraisingam, Johannes Hadi and Hilary Low.
SingPost said in a previous statement that it had dismissed Liang in April 2018.
If convicted of corruption, he can be jailed up to five years, fined up to S$100,000, or both. He could be jailed up to 10 years and fined if convicted of cheating.