MND duped into paying $260k for contracts with 2 firms whose directors did not declare discounts
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SINGAPORE – The directors of two firms allegedly worked together in or around 2015 to cheat the Ministry of National Development (MND), which was said to have been duped into paying one of them about $260,000.
Tan Kia Lim, 66, and Choo Chiang Wei, 48, were each charged with one count of cheating on Thursday.
Choo also faces more than 60 charges of forgery for the purpose of cheating.
At the time, Tan was a director of Kim Yew Integrated, which provides electrical works, mechanical servicing and integrated facilities management systems.
A search with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Acra) on Thursday revealed that Tan stopped being a shareholder of Kim Yew Integrated in 2017 and a director in 2021.
He was also a director of a firm that MND had engaged for mechanical and electrical maintenance works.
According to court documents, it used to be known as Kim Yew Electrical & Sanitary.
The Singapore Business Review reported in 2018 that commercial services company Sodexo had acquired the firm, which was renamed Sodexo Kim Yew.
Choo is a director and shareholder of another firm called Trees Trading & Engineering, which was subcontracted by Kim Yew Electrical and Sanitary for works undertaken at the MND building in Maxwell Road.
Choo also used to own three other businesses – Club 218 Pub and KTV, Lliquid and Yeh Hai Enterprise.
The two men allegedly conspired to cheat MND by dishonestly concealing that Kim Yew Electrical & Sanitary had a discount arrangement with Trees Trading and Engineering for some works performed for the ministry.
As a result, MND was said to have been dishonestly induced to deliver payments to Kim Yew Electrical & Sanitary.
The police said in a statement on Thursday that Choo is also accused of conspiring with his staff to forge 67 quotations in the name of other subcontractors for the purpose of cheating MND.
Choo’s case has been adjourned to July 27, while Tan’s case will be mentioned again in court on Aug 17.
For cheating, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined.
Offenders convicted of forgery for the purpose of cheating will receive a similar punishment for each charge.
