Trio on trial over graft in insurance scheme
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Former insurance agent James Yeo Siew Liang (left) was allegedly recruited by freelance translator Abdul Aziz Mohamed Hanib (centre) to give an Indonesian Embassy labour attache a share of the premiums from performance bond guarantees for maids in return for accreditation from the embassy. Benjamin Chow Tuck Keong (right) introduced Yeo to Aziz.
An Indonesian Embassy labour attache allegedly tasked a Singaporean freelance translator to look for insurance firms or agents willing to give them a share of the premiums linked to performance bond guarantees for Indonesian maids.
A district court heard yesterday that the insurance firms or agents would then allegedly receive accreditation from the embassy in return.
James Yeo Siew Liang, 48, who represented AIG Asia-Pacific Insurance and Liberty Insurance, is accused of agreeing to be part of the plan. A search on the General Insurance Association of Singapore's website reveals no information about him.
He is accused of giving more than $21,000 in bribes to the translator, Abdul Aziz Mohamed Hanib, 64. Yeo is also said to have given more than $71,000 to the labour attache, Agus Ramdhany Machjumi, who is no longer in Singapore.
The court heard that Aziz allegedly found Yeo through an intermediary, Benjamin Chow Tuck Keong, 56, who was a corporate development director of a company dealing with organic products.
According to court documents, Chow did not give or receive any money.
Aziz, Yeo and Chow are on trial, with Aziz and Yeo facing more than 15 graft-related charges each, and Chow, one.
On the first day of the trial yesterday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Alan Loh said that since Feb 1 last year, the embassy in Singapore has made it compulsory for all local employers hiring Indonesian maids to buy a $6,000 performance bond. This allows the embassy to call on the bond for the benefit of the maids in the event of any purported breaches of employment conditions by the employer.
Mr Loh added: "This was clearly a lucrative business for general insurers if they received accreditation from the Indonesian Embassy as they could collect a $70 premium for each (performance bond) issued in respect of an estimated 120,000 (Indonesian foreign domestic workers) in Singapore.
"The insurers could seek reimbursement from the employers in the event that a (performance bond) was called on."
This, in turn, allowed the insurers to pay their agents a "generous" 45 per cent of the premiums earned for each bond, and was a "win-win for insurers and their agents", the court heard.
DPP Loh told District Judge Ong Luan Tze that between February and June last year, AIG and Liberty sold more than 5,700 performance bonds.
Yeo allegedly gave the bribes without the two firms' knowledge. There is also no evidence that the Indonesian Embassy knew or approved of Agus purportedly receiving a share of such commissions.
The trial resumes today.