Ex-Keppel Shipyard staff jailed for taking over $740,000 in bribes over 14 years
SINGAPORE — A former senior procurement officer with Keppel Shipyard who pocketed more than $740,000 in kickbacks over 14 years was on Wednesday (17 April) jailed for one year and nine months.
Neo Kian Siong, 63, used part of the criminal proceeds to pay the outstanding loan on a condominium, and buy two cars.
He pleaded guilty in February to 26 charges of graft and 28 counts involving criminal proceeds.
He also admitted to another 52 charges of corruption and 289 counts involving criminal proceeds, which were taken into consideration for his sentencing.
Facts of the case
Neo joined Keppel Shipyard in 1981 as a clerical assistant. He took his first kickback of $4,000 in 2000, when he was a senior purchasing/stores coordinator. He was then responsible for procuring supplies, including raw materials, pipes and pipe fittings.
Neo was heavily involved in the purchasing of items. In 2014 alone, he handled 8,000 purchase orders. He had the discretion to choose suitable suppliers for a given need and to issue requests for quotations to these suppliers. He also had access to prices quoted by suppliers, which was confidential information.
But Neo took bribes from suppliers in return for revealing quotes submitted by other suppliers to Keppel Shipyard. This allowed complicit suppliers to submit the lowest quote and thereby obtain orders from the shipyard.
He admitted that he would also try to invite corrupt suppliers to bid for the company’s orders and then award the orders to them.
Sometime in 2000, the founding director of Kim Seng Huat, Ong Chim Sum, told Neo that he needed help to expand his business with Keppel Shipyard. Ong said he would give Neo a share of profits obtained from sales to the shipyard. Neo pocketed $56,000 from Ong over 10 occasions between 2000 and 2009.
Neo also took $97,500 from Ong’s son, Ong Tong Yang alias Andy, over six occasions from 2011 to 2014 in return for revealing the lowest quotes from other suppliers of Keppel Shipyard.
He also received bribes from the founders of two other companies in return for providing similar information. He got $30,000 from First Hydraulic over 29 occasions between 2007 and 2014, and $27,600 from Athical Engineering over 10 occasions between 2008 and 2014.
The total sum of bribes in all the charges Neo faced amounted to $265,000. But anti-graft investigators found a joint bank account that belonged to Neo and his wife, with large deposits that could not be traced to either of their salaries. Neo admitted to investigators that a total sum of $740,162.56 that was deposited between July 2007 and April 2014 consisted of bribes.
In February 2014, Neo used part of the kickbacks he pocketed to pay the outstanding loan of $54,010.58 for a Hillview Avenue condominium, which he had bought with his wife for $846,400 in 1998.
He also used the ill-gotten money on a Honda Odyssey, a Volkswagen Passat, insurance premiums, shares and time deposits.
Defence lawyer Raymond Lye pleaded with District Judge Ng Peng Hong to impose a 15-month jail term, while Deputy Public Prosecutor Eugene Sng asked for one year and 10 months’ jail. Lye said Neo has made full restitution.
Neo could have been jailed for up to five years and also fined up to $100,000 for each count of graft.
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