CPIB assistant director charged with misappropriating S$1.7m - 24Jul2013

SINGAPORE: An assistant director of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) has been charged with 21 offences, including misappropriation and forgery. 39-year-old Edwin Yeo Seow Hiong is accused of eight counts of misappropriation totalling more than S$1.7 million. The head of field research and technical support allegedly misappropriated the money intended to be used for the purchase of goods and services required by the department. Yeo faces one count of forgery. The court stated that he had made a false document -- a receiving voucher dated February 9, 2011, in the name of Lam Chee Loong. This was apparently done to lead Assistant Director of the CPIB's Administration and Support Department, Sze Chinyu, into believing that Mr Lam received full payment from the agency for procurement of equipment. The document stated that Mr Lam did not receive the payment. He is also charged with 12 counts under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act. For these 12 charges, he allegedly used some S$241,000 that was deposited into his bank account for gaming activities at Marina Bay Sands Casino. From this amount, S$67,000 has been recovered. The offences were allegedly committed between 2008 and September 2012. During the court session, the bespectacled man asked for time to settle his family affairs, as well as make his own representations and prepare for mitigation. He said he does not plan to engage a counsel and also asked for a lower bail amount. Yeo said he has been cooperative with authorities and that he is at low flight risk, so he does not warrant a high bail amount. But the prosecution asked for bail to be fixed at S$500,000, given the seriousness of the charges and the court agreed. In a statement, the CPIB said it first discovered Yeo's alleged acts in September 14, 2012. He was suspended from duty the next day after preliminary investigations. The matter was also reported to the Commercial Affairs Department for an independent investigation. Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said: "This is a particularly serious case because it involves a senior officer from CPIB, whose mission is to maintain the integrity of the system. "We will take strong measures to correct any weaknesses and processes and the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is also looking to see whether there were supervisory lapses. If so, we will take action against those responsible." A statement from the Prime Minister's Office said individual lapses can happen despite safeguards. However, it added that as long as the fundamental importance of honest government is upheld and other officers in the organisation are courageous enough to report when they think something is not right, such transgressions will be detected. Mr Teo added: "Public institutions and public offices are held to the highest standards of integrity and conduct. And what this means is that we need strong enforcement when there's wrongdoing, we need to correct weaknesses whenever we find them. But most important of all, the foundation is good values." If he is convicted of misappropriation, Yeo could face life imprisonment and a fine for every charge. For forgery, he could be jailed up to four years and fined. If found guilty of using benefits from criminal conduct, Yeo faces a maximum of seven years' jail and a S$500,000 fine on each charge. This is not the first time an officer of the CPIB has been taken to task for wrongdoing. In the last two decades, there have been two cases involving errant CPIB officers. In 1997, Chan Toh Kai, a senior special investigator with CPIB, was sentenced to one year's jail for cheating. In 2002, Sogamaran Gopal Ramachandran, a senior research officer with CPIB, was jailed two years for corruptly accepting gratification to divulge classified information about an investigation into two police officers attached to the Intellectual Property Rights Branch of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Singapore Police Force. www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/cpib-assistant-director/754444.html