SINGAPORE – A former Singapore Airlines (SIA) manager was charged on Tuesday with corruption and money laundering after he gave an interior design firm confidential information to help it bid for three tenders called by the national carrier.
Between June and December 2019, Lionel Low Jun Jie, 35, allegedly engaged in a conspiracy with freelance designer Rex Zhang, 38, to receive $474,500 from Lin ID Group manager Joseph Ang, 51, in return for favouring his firm.
According to court documents, Lin ID Group had participated in tender exercises to provide furniture for classrooms and make alterations to the canteen within the Singapore Airlines Training Centre. The interior design firm had also submitted a bid for a renovation project of a design lab situated in Airline House, SIA’s headquarters.
Having received his ill-gotten gains, Low is said to have used approximately US$111,100 (S$156,000) of the bribes received to buy Microsoft shares between April and June 2021.
He then transferred the Microsoft shares to another trading account and withdrew approximately $25,600 from that trading account via cheque.
Low’s bail has been set at $10,000 and he is expected to return to court on Dec 12.
In response to queries from The Straits Times, an SIA spokesman confirmed that Low was no longer with the company, but declined to comment further as the case is now before the courts.
On Tuesday, Zhang and Ang were charged with three offences each under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Ang additionally faces one count of cheating.
In 2020, Ang and two colleagues from Lin ID Group, Mohamed Barak Lathif, 49, and Felicia Low, 49, allegedly used false documents to support Lin Builders’ applications to the Building and Construction Authority (BCA). Lin Builders is a company related to Lin ID Group.
This dishonestly induced the BCA to award Lin Builders with a financial grading of C1. The firm was also issued a certificate qualifying it to handle demolition works.
The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said on Tuesday that those who are convicted of corruption can be fined up to $100,000, jailed for up to five years or both.
Those who are convicted of cheating can be jailed for three years, fined or both.
CPIB stressed that it looks into all corruption complaints and reports, including anonymous ones. To lodge a report, members of the public can call the CPIB duty hotline on 1800-376-0000 or visit its website.
