SingPost assistant manager charged with graft

[Dodomeki]

SingPost assistant manager charged with graft
Posted: 15 June 2010 1104 hrs
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SINGAPORE: An assistant manager with the Singapore Post has been charged with ten counts of graft.

It's believed 42-year-old Phang Soo Chyi corruptly obtained gratifications in the form of loans, amounting to more than $8,000 in all between September 2007 and January 2009.

He allegedly received the monies from seven of Singapore Post's contractors and sub-contractors that deliver parcels on the company's behalf.

They include Heng Hock Kheng who's the drrector of D & W Express Services and Matsom Sariphee, the sole-proprietor of Sky Venture Integrated.

It's believed Phang received the loans in exchange for not showing disfavour towards the companies.

Separately, he is also accused of cheating Koh Tiu Ling, a director at United Post Singapore, a private postal company, on 11 November 2008.

Phang allegedly deceived Mr Koh into believing that he could repay a $3,000 loan that Mr Koh had given him.

It's believed that Phang handed Mr Koh a cheque for the amount even though the related account with the bank has already been closed on 4 March 2007.

A pre-trial conference will be held on July 9.

For each corruption charge, Phang could be jailed a maximum of five years and fined up to $100,000.

If found guilty of cheating, he could be sentenced to seven years' jail and fined. - CNA/jy

 

[Zhuge Liang]

Feb 16, 2011

Ex-SingPost officer fined for corruption

He had pressured courier firms under his watch to lend him money

By Khushwant Singh

Phang was fined $20,000 for corruption and cheating. The former assistant manager had the power to penalise courier firms under his charge for failure to meet standards. -- ST PHOTO: CHEW SENG KIM

A POSTAL officer asked for loans amounting to $11,350 from courier companies under his watch, and their employees did not dare to turn him down.

Phang Soo Chyi, 42, now a taxi driver, was on Tuesday fined $20,000 and ordered to pay a penalty of $8,350 for accepting gratification corruptly.

A district court heard that as assistant manager of Singapore Post's Sameday Courier Network for the eastern region, he had the power to penalise courier firms that failed to meet service standards in collecting and delivering parcels.

He could also grant a monetary incentive of $300 to firms that performed well. It was the fear of being in his bad books that made companies like D&W Express Services, United Post and Sky Venture Integrated agree to lend him money from 2007 to 2009.

He did not try to repay these loans. In February last year, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau was tipped off about the misdeeds.

Investigations revealed that one of the courier contractors pressured by Phang was D&W.

He had called its director, Mr Heng Hock Kheng, on Feb 12, 2008 to tell him that he needed to borrow $1,000 to settle some unspecified problems.

Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.
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