SINGAPORE - A company director being tried for bribery became furious when his business partner wanted to withdraw his shares from their firm, and allegedly wanted to report him to the authorities, a court heard on Wednesday (Nov 14).
Chia Sin Lan, 63, had told Mr Tay Eng Chuan in a text message in August 2016 that he was "angry" and wanted to invite him to "drink coffee". Mr Tay said he understood that to mean that Chia wanted to report him to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB).
This message, shown during the ninth day of a corruption trial, was preceded by a photo sent by Chia, showing a debit card which was registered to Mr Tay's own company, and also a mobile phone SIM card.
This debit card - which Chia had asked Mr Tay to apply for - was allegedly used to pay for dinners and karaoke sessions to entertain Ang Mo Kio Town Council's former general manager Wong Chee Meng, who is also being tried for corruption.
Asked by Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Jiang Ke-Yue what this meant, Mr Tay, a prosecution witness, said: "He (Chia) is telling me that he will use this debit card and this handphone SIM card, to report me to CPIB."
Among the 54 charges each brought against Chia and Wong, one of them involves Chia extending to Wong the free use of a mobile phone line, to make calls to China, allegedly to Wong's mistress, Ms Xu Hongmei.
Mr Tay told the court that he could not be sure if this was the same SIM card in Chia's photograph. He said earlier in the week, during the trial proceedings, that Chia had asked him to apply for the mobile phone line.
The phone line is part of the gratification that Chia allegedly gave to Wong, which amounted to more than $107,000 in almost two years, the prosecution has charged. This was in exchange for advancing the business interests of Chia's two firms - 19-ANC Enterprise and 19-NS2 Enterprise - which did work for town councils.
Mr Tay, a former director and shareholder of 19-NS2, said he wanted to withdraw from the company because there was "no meaning to it".
Asked by DPP Jiang to explain, Mr Tay mentioned several issues over which he had misgivings.
Mr Tay explained that there were issues, for example, relating to his role in the employment of Wong's daughter-in-law Stella Le Thi Hien, at a firm called 4-Ever Engineering.
Ms Le's wages were paid by 19-NS2, which Mr Tay said had been Chia's idea. Mr Tay's role was to reimburse 4-Ever Engineering for Ms Le's salary every month, using cash.
Mr Tay said: "So after seeing all this, these are related to bribery. And (it has) differed from our original principles when we founded the company and (its) business morals, I feel that it is better to withdraw my shares."
After learning of Mr Tay's intentions to leave 19-NS2, Chia called him a "small person" in Mandarin. This, Mr Tay said, showed Chia's dislike of him.
After the prosecution wrapped up its examination of Mr Tay, Wong's lawyer Melanie Ho proceeded to cross-examine Mr Tay.
Ms Ho questioned Mr Tay about a karaoke session, which he, Wong and Chia, attended in 2016, after a Chinese New Year dinner.
Ms Ho asked Mr Tay if he was aware that Wong had paid for drinks and for the KTV room that evening. Mr Tay replied that he did not know as he had left early that night.
The trial resumes after lunch on Wednesday (Nov 14).
