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NEA officer jailed 3 years for corruption
Posted: 06 January 2012 1914 hrs
SINGAPORE: A senior technical officer with the National Environment Agency was jailed three years and ordered to pay a penalty of S$119,700 after accepting bribes from a contractor to aid his business.
48-year-old Oh Hian Kee was found guilty on 15 counts of corruption, after he received cash of between S$3,000 and S$30,000 from Tan Boon Gee, a director of Mincon Engineering.
Oh, a tanned and stout man, was attached to the mechanical maintenance unit of NEA's Tuas South Incineration Plant responsible for maintenance works and the procurement of equipment.
He was also in charge of evaluating bids submitted by contractors for projects at the plant.
This included Mincon Engineering, a company set up by Tan and another partner in 2008.
Oh and Tan first got acquainted through work in the 1990s, and their friendship grew to the point where they went on gambling trips overseas.
It was also on one of these trips, that Tan offered to pay Oh in exchange for lenience shown in supervising Tan's works.
This allowed Tan to complete projects more quickly and save costs, resulting in Mincon making lower bids on future projects than other companies.
Tan managed to secure 15 projects for the maintenance, replacement and testing of cranes at the plant, with recommendations and assistance from Oh.
In return, Oh received payment in the form of cash and cheques, on 15 occasions between May 2006 and August 2009.
Oh, who indicated he would appeal, was offered bail of S$120,000 by District Judge Jasbendar Kaur.
He could have been jailed up to five years and fined up to S$100,000 on each charge.
Tan, one of the witnesses who went on trial last year, has not been charged yet.
- CNA/ck
