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[COLOR="_______"] Ex-SLA manager charged with 27 more offences[/COLOR]
By Elena Chong, Courts Correspondent
A FORMER Singapore Land Authority (SLA) manager accused of cheating the Government of $11.8 million was further charged with 27 counts involving $1.87 million.
This brings the total number of charges against Lim Chai Meng to 264.
One of Lim's alleged accomplices, Koh Seah Wee, 40, then deputy director in SLA's technology and infrastructure department, has already been charged with 249 counts of cheating and other offences.
The 37-year-old Lim was remanded again for another week as the prosecution said investigations were continuing.
Clad in a red polo T-shirt, he appeared calm when the new charges were read to him.
Court documents showed that he allegedly used his ill-gotten gains to buy two properties along Tanah Merah Kechil Avenue off New Upper Changi Road, five cars, three watches and unit trusts. He also deposited money into the bank accounts of his family members.
He allegedly used about $321,000 to finance the purchases of a condominium at Optima @ Tanah Merah and a house between April and September last year.
Among the cars he bought were a Porsche and a Ferrari.
He also allegedly concealed a sum of $32,322 in June this year when he and his wife, Madam Tina Gow Poh Choo, handed the money to her nephew for safekeeping.
Lim is also said to have transferred sums of $20,000 to $347,670 into mainly fixed deposit accounts with United Overseas Bank, OCBC Bank and DBS Bank on six occasions.
The deposits that he allegedly made into the accounts of his three children - two sons and a daughter - his wife and mother-in-law Aw Lian Imm totalled $279,750. The sums ranged from $10,000 to $79,750.
In an unrelated cheating charge, Lim is alleged to have conspired with one Lim Seow Fong to cheat Sing Investments last November by deceiving it into believing that he was working as a consultant at Nitaki Machine Movers drawing a $20,000 monthly salary when he was not, and thus dishonestly induced the company to grant him a loan of $350,000.
Lim was charged a week ago with former swimming instructor Ho Yen Teck, 31, who is accused of 195 charges of cheating the SLA of $9.8 million.
The duo are said to have conspired with Koh to render false invoices through various entities for fictitious IT maintenance services and goods which were not delivered.
The transactions took place between January 2008 and March this year.
Koh has been remanded as he could not raise the $1.5 million bail. Neither did Ho post bail of $100,000 offered to him last week.
If convicted, the trio can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined on each count of cheating.
The maximum penalty for an offence under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act is a fine of up to $500,000 and seven years' jail.
Lim, who is represented by Mr Subhas Anandan, will appear in court again next Wednesday.
When contacted, Lim's wife, a property agent, declined comment and directed queries to Lim's lawyer instead.
[email protected]
Where some of the $1.8m went
# $321,000
Lim allegedly used this amount to finance the purchases of a condominium at Optima @ Tanah Merah and a house.
# $32,322
He and his wife allegedly passed this sum to their nephew in order to conceal it.
# $20,000 to $350,000
Lim allegedly transferred these sums into fixed deposit accounts on six occasions.
# $280,000
He allegedly put this total sum into the bank accounts of his wife, mother-in-law and three children.
By Elena Chong, Courts Correspondent
A FORMER Singapore Land Authority (SLA) manager accused of cheating the Government of $11.8 million was further charged with 27 counts involving $1.87 million.
This brings the total number of charges against Lim Chai Meng to 264.
One of Lim's alleged accomplices, Koh Seah Wee, 40, then deputy director in SLA's technology and infrastructure department, has already been charged with 249 counts of cheating and other offences.
The 37-year-old Lim was remanded again for another week as the prosecution said investigations were continuing.
Clad in a red polo T-shirt, he appeared calm when the new charges were read to him.
Court documents showed that he allegedly used his ill-gotten gains to buy two properties along Tanah Merah Kechil Avenue off New Upper Changi Road, five cars, three watches and unit trusts. He also deposited money into the bank accounts of his family members.
He allegedly used about $321,000 to finance the purchases of a condominium at Optima @ Tanah Merah and a house between April and September last year.
Among the cars he bought were a Porsche and a Ferrari.
He also allegedly concealed a sum of $32,322 in June this year when he and his wife, Madam Tina Gow Poh Choo, handed the money to her nephew for safekeeping.
Lim is also said to have transferred sums of $20,000 to $347,670 into mainly fixed deposit accounts with United Overseas Bank, OCBC Bank and DBS Bank on six occasions.
The deposits that he allegedly made into the accounts of his three children - two sons and a daughter - his wife and mother-in-law Aw Lian Imm totalled $279,750. The sums ranged from $10,000 to $79,750.
In an unrelated cheating charge, Lim is alleged to have conspired with one Lim Seow Fong to cheat Sing Investments last November by deceiving it into believing that he was working as a consultant at Nitaki Machine Movers drawing a $20,000 monthly salary when he was not, and thus dishonestly induced the company to grant him a loan of $350,000.
Lim was charged a week ago with former swimming instructor Ho Yen Teck, 31, who is accused of 195 charges of cheating the SLA of $9.8 million.
The duo are said to have conspired with Koh to render false invoices through various entities for fictitious IT maintenance services and goods which were not delivered.
The transactions took place between January 2008 and March this year.
Koh has been remanded as he could not raise the $1.5 million bail. Neither did Ho post bail of $100,000 offered to him last week.
If convicted, the trio can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined on each count of cheating.
The maximum penalty for an offence under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act is a fine of up to $500,000 and seven years' jail.
Lim, who is represented by Mr Subhas Anandan, will appear in court again next Wednesday.
When contacted, Lim's wife, a property agent, declined comment and directed queries to Lim's lawyer instead.
[email protected]
Where some of the $1.8m went
# $321,000
Lim allegedly used this amount to finance the purchases of a condominium at Optima @ Tanah Merah and a house.
# $32,322
He and his wife allegedly passed this sum to their nephew in order to conceal it.
# $20,000 to $350,000
Lim allegedly transferred these sums into fixed deposit accounts on six occasions.
# $280,000
He allegedly put this total sum into the bank accounts of his wife, mother-in-law and three children.
