Two men jailed 20 days each for trying to bribe Sembcorp Marine employee, who rejected them
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
On July 3, Singaporean Chen Changcheng and Chinese national Xiao Zhongfeng were each sentenced to 20 days’ jail.
ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
- Two men, Chen Changcheng and Xiao Zhongfeng, were jailed 20 days each for trying to bribe a Sembcorp Marine employee with up to two per cent cut on multi-million dollar contracts.
- Chen promised the employee up to US$40,000 if Xiao's firm won contracts with his help, but the offer was rejected.
- The prosecution stressed the need to protect Singapore’s corruption-free image and sought a sentence of one month's jail for each man.
AI generated
SINGAPORE – Two men who tried to bribe a Sembcorp Marine employee with a cut of up to 2 per cent of potential multi-million-dollar deals failed when their offer was rejected.
On July 3, Singaporean Chen Changcheng, 43, and Chinese national Xiao Zhongfeng, 45, were each sentenced to 20 days’ jail after being convicted of a charge under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Xiao was a director and sole shareholder of MGW Technologies, a firm selling equipment and site engineering services in the oil and gas industry.
Chen provided brokering services in the shipping industry.
Deputy public prosecutors Xavier Tan and Kester Tan said both men had heard that Sembcorp Marine Integrated Yard, now known as Seatrium, was handling large construction projects.
They met for dinner, and Xiao told Chen he was interested in his firm providing material handling equipment to Sembcorp Marine for these large construction projects.
Chen said he knew an ex-colleague, identified in court documents as A1, who was working in Sembcorp Marine then, and agreed to contact him on behalf of Xiao.
In January 2023, Chen called A1 over WeChat and offered to bribe A1 if he agreed to show favour in any way to MGW relating to Sembcorp Marine’s business.
Chen offered 1 to 2 per cent of any Sembcorp contract that MGW could successfully bid for with A1’s help.
Chen estimated that if a contract was valued at around US$1 million (S$1.3 million) to US$2 million, A1 could get up to US$40,000. A1 rejected Chen’s offer.
It was not stated in court documents how Chen’s and Xiao’s actions came to light or if A1 reported the call.
The prosecution sought a jail term of one month each for Chen and Xiao, adding: “The price of Singapore’s hard-won image as a corruption-free city is eternal vigilance, and leniency cannot be shown even on account of unfamiliarity with our business practices.”
Those convicted of offering any gratification to an agent as an inducement or reward can be jailed for up to five years, fined up to $100,000, or both.