SINGAPORE - A businessman who owns a logistics company and is a director of two other firms was hauled to court on Wednesday (June 15) to face graft charges.
Diong Yao, 40, who owns S-Log Holdings and is the director of Singapura Logistics Support (SLS) and DY Express, faces 17 charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Two employees from ground handlers dnata and Asia Pacific Star, a subsidiary of Sats, were also charged with accepting bribes from him.
dnata supervisor Premkumar Jaya Kumar, 41, faces 11 charges of corruption, while Asia Pacific Star manager Chia Yee Han, 35, faces six charges of corruption.
Premkumar faces an additional 55 charges under the Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act.
Between January and December 2017, Diong allegedly gave $39,000 worth in bribes to Chia to advance the business interests of S-Log Holdings with Asia Pacific Star.
The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau said the gratification came in the form of hotel accommodations, a luxury watch, air travel, deposit for a car purchase and a loan.
In other incidents between 2010 and 2014, Diong allegedly gave bribes totalling at least $1,000 to Premkumar in exchange for the latter showing leniency to DY Express in discharging its contractual obligations in a dnata project.
Premkumar was also a support officer at Changi Airport Group (CAG) at the time.
Diong is accused of bribing Premkumar again between 2016 and 2017 with a total of $6,500 for benefits that include issuing airside driving permits to drivers who did not pass the requisite rules and practical tests for driving in an airfield.
Premkumar is said to have done so by illegally altering the drivers' records in CAG's system.
A supervisor at SLS, Noordin Abdul Gaffor, 47, is also said to have conspired with Diong to corruptly give $4,500 to Premkumar. He was charged with nine counts of corruption on Wednesday.
All four are scheduled to return to court on July 20.
For each charge of corruption, they can be fined up to $100,000, jailed for up to five years, or both.
If convicted of an offence under the Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act, Premkumar can be jailed for up to three years and fined $10,000.
