Former SingPost senior V-P claims trial to cheating, graft-related offence
A former senior vice-president at Singapore Post (SingPost), who was dismissed in 2018, is now accused of duping the company into giving him a salary of $8,000.
Liang An Wey is said to have done so after giving false information about his employment history and past remuneration.
When he applied for the position of vice-president of project execution with SingPost in 2013, he stated in his curriculum vitae (CV) that he had been the head of project management at a construction firm where a friend was a shareholder and director.
Liang, now 47, also stated on the CV that GSM Holdings paid him $12,500 a month plus $2,000 in allowance, Deputy Public Prosecutor David Menon told the court.
Liang is claiming trial to one count each of cheating, and an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
On the first day of the trial on Monday, the prosecutor said: “The accused was not formally employed by GSM... There was no contract of employment, the accused did not draw any salary from GSM, and GSM did not make any CPF contributions on the accused’s behalf.”
DPP Menon said that on June 28, 2013, a recruiter from Reed Personnel Services submitted Liang’s CV to SingPost for him to be considered for the vice-president position.
According to court documents, Liang stated on his CV that he had been employed as head of project management at GSM Holdings since August 2012.
SingPost then interviewed Liang with a view to hiring him, and on July 12, 2013, SingPost offered him a vice-president position.
In an “application for appointment” form that he was asked to fill, he stated that he had been a director at GSM.
Stressing that Liang was not formally employed by GSM, the DPP said: “Rather, he assisted his friend Tan Yew Seng, who was a director and shareholder of GSM. The accused assisted Tan on an ad hoc basis, primarily with a factory that GSM was building (in Senoko Loop).
“Tan was unfamiliar with building permits, so he asked the accused to assist him. The accused reviewed documents and advised on correspondence with the main contractor and the relevant authorities.”
Mr Tan had made at least one verbal offer to pay Liang, but this agreement was never formalised.
The DPP said Liang was very close to his mother, who died in February 2012, and he had also been diagnosed with persistent complex bereavement disorder and/or grief reaction with associated major depressive disorder when he applied for the SingPost job.
Separately, Liang is also accused of trying to obtain a bribe of $1 million in cash from Mr Wong Siaw Fun, the then chief operating officer of mechanical and engineering firm Bintai Kindenko, in 2015.
In exchange, Liang allegedly offered to recommend Bintai as a preferred subcontractor for works at the SingPost Centre in Eunos Road.
The prosecutor said: “The possibility of corrupt gratification was raised. No corrupt gratification was ultimately paid or received by either party.”
Liang is represented by lawyers Eugene Thuraisingam, Johannes Hadi and Hilary Low.
The trial continues.
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