S’pore branch of engineering firm linked to MRT projects claims trial to graft charges
The Singapore branch of a tunnel and underground engineering firm linked to MRT projects is claiming trial on Monday after it was accused of bribing a Land Transport Authority (LTA) deputy group director at the time to the tune of $220,000.
China Railway Tunnel Group (Singapore Branch), which faces three graft charges, allegedly gave the monies to Henry Foo Yung Thye in 2018 and 2019.
Foo, then 47, was sentenced to 5½ years’ jail in September 2021 for taking about $1.24 million in bribes in the form of loans from contractors and subcontractors.
In earlier proceedings, the court heard that he had sought loans from, among others, directors of firms such as Tiong Seng Contractors, Mept Engineering, Tritech Engineering & Testing and China Railway Tunnel’s Singapore branch.
In exchange, he promised to perform tasks such as advancing their business interests with LTA.
In their opening statement on the current trial, deputy public prosecutors Grace Lim and Gan Ee Kiat said that in 2014, several LTA representatives, including Foo, met China Railway Tunnel’s Singapore branch staff in China.
They were considering using the engineering company’s rectangular tunnel boring machine in the construction of the Thomson-East Coast Line.
There, Foo met a man identified in court documents as A1, one of the firm’s representatives hosting the visit.
In December 2014, China Railway Tunnel’s Singapore branch subcontracted another firm to carry out tunnelling works using the RTMB for Havelock MRT station.
In February 2015, the engineering company’s local branch deployed another man, identified in court documents as A2, as the commercial manager for this subcontracted work.
Details about A2 and A2 were not disclosed in court documents.
Foo and A2 became acquainted with each other soon after.
The prosecutors said: “In October 2017, the company was awarded the main contract for the construction of Prince Edward Road station and tunnels on the Circle Line, also known as the C885 project. This project was not under Foo’s purview.
“The company deployed A1 to Singapore to lead the work for the C885 project as the project director. A1 occupied the most senior position in the company in Singapore. A2 held the role of deputy project director for the C885 project and reported directly to A1.”
According to court documents, Foo asked A1 and A2 for a loan in 2017.
Believing that Foo would help the company’s business interests with LTA if they helped him, A1 told A2 to find a way to withdraw money from the company to bribe Foo, the prosecutors told the court.
A2 then got a man from another firm for help to issue false invoices to China Railway Tunnel’s Singapore branch, and it paid the man’s firm according to the invoices it received.
The prosecutors told the court that after each payment, the man withdrew monies in cash and passed them to some employees of China Railway Tunnel’s Singapore branch.
The prosecutors added that out of this cash, A1 and an accountant colleague delivered $100,000 to Foo on Jan 5, 2018, while A2 delivered $100,000 to him 26 days later.
Foo also received $20,000 in 2019, according to court documents.
His offences came to light in October 2018, when the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) received an anonymous complaint that he had been soliciting loans from LTA subcontractors.
He resigned from LTA in September 2019.
The prosecutors said that on Nov 21, 2019, bailors for A1 and A2 told CPIB that they had lost contact with the pair.
The trial resumes on Tuesday.
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