Jul 28, 2010
Welfare officer admits bribes
<!-- by line --> By Khushwant Singh
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AS THE welfare programme coordinator of the Society for the Physically Disabled (SPD), Eric Lau Yeow Hui was to arrange for its special transportation needs. Instead, the wheelchair-bound 32-year-old decided to line his pockets with bribes from Mr Ng Chew Chuah, the owner of a transport firm.
Lau pleaded guilty to three corruption charges in a district court on Wednesday. Chief District Judge Tan Siong Thye will take 15 other charges into consideration when sentencing Lau on Monday. Court documents indicate that between October 2005 and March 2007, Lau had on 18 occasions accepted bribes amounting to $17,500 from Mr Ng.
This was in return for Lau revealing the bids put in by rival transport companies and allowing Mr Ng's company, Ming Chuan Transportation and Coach Services, to revise its bid. As a result, Mr Ng was awarded the one-year contract to drive physically disabled people from their homes to SPD's offices in Peng Nguan Street in Tiong Bahru for rehabilitation and job training programmes
Lau also gave positive reviews about the transport company's performance and its contract was extended to March 2007. Soon after that the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau received a tip-off that Mr Ng was bribing Lau. The court was told that Mr Ng has yet to be charged.
