THE first man to plead guilty in the Singapore Land Authority
$12 million scam was given 10 years' jail by a district court on
Friday.
Ho Yen Teck, 31, a former swimming instructor, had set up seven
sole proprietorships in a conspiracy with two others to deceive the
statutory board into paying for fictitious IT maintenance services
and goods which were not delivered.
The transactions took place between January 2008 and March 2010.
His share in the conspiracy was about $200,000. The court was told
that almost 80 per cent of the total payments by SLA for the fake
transactions was made to Ho's seven companies totalling $9.8
million.
Ho's alleged accomplices, former SLA deputy director Koh Seah
Wee, 40, and ex-manager Lim Chai Meng, 37, have since been charged
and their cases are at the pre-trial stages. Five others have also
been hauled to court. Their cases are also pending. The prosecution
had urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence, citing several
aggravating factors.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Jean Chan had said that the offences
were committed against a public institution over a substantial
period of time, resulting in the loss of an astronomical sum of
public funds. Ho's role, she added, was pivotal. The offences
undermined the integrity of the public procurement process, she
said. Neither did Ho make full restitution.
District Judge Jasbendar Kaur agreed with the prosecution that a
stiff sentence was clearly warranted. She felt that Ho's role was
significant and without his participation and active facilitation,
the elaborate and well-planned fraud would not have been
successful. Ho, who had pleaded guilty to 21 of 195 counts, could
have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined on each charge. His
sentence was backdated to his remand on Oct 6 last year.
-- ST
