NUS research fellow who cheated university by failing to declare ownership of firm jailed
She recommended her company to a unit of the National University of Singapore for several procurement deals without revealing that she owned the company.
Singaporean Liang Juan, then a research fellow at the National University of Singapore Environmental Research Institute (NERI), denied knowing the identity of the company’s owner when asked.
On Tuesday (15 January), Liang was jailed eight weeks’ on three counts of cheating NERI in 2012. Liang, who was no longer working at NUS, has seven cheating charges and one charge of perverting the course of justice taken into consideration for sentencing.
The court heard on Tuesday that Liang had incorporated Biochem Scientific on 13 January 2012. Liang and her husband were directors of Biochem while Liang was the firm’s sole shareholder.
In the same year, Liang recommended Biochem as a middleman to source several items for NERI while hiding her interest in the company.
For the procurement, Biochem managed to purchase the items overseas at significantly lower prices and sold them to NERI at higher prices, Deputy Public Prosecutor Leong Weng Tat told the court.
Over three deals with NERI between 27 February and 4 May 2012, Biochem made a profit of $10,178.90 from its business with NERI.
Liang was later questioned by NUS officers regarding NERI’s purchases. She denied knowing the owner of Biochem and stated she was not related to any Biochem staff.
Liang only came clean when she was shown the documents from the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, which listed her as a director and shareholder of Biochem. When asked about her failure to disclose the information, Liang expressed her concern that Biochem’s business with NERI would be affected if she were to make the declaration.
NERI confirmed that it would not have approved or paid for the deals with Biochem, thus incurring a total loss of $15,372.49, if it knew of Liang’s interest in the company.
DPP Leong asked for a sentence of 10 weeks’ jail, while Liang’s lawyer Leo Cheng Suan asked for a short jail term for his client.
Leo said Liang had cooperated with the authorities and pleaded guilty at the first opportunity. The loss that NUS incurred was “not that much” and that his client had made full restitution, the lawyer added.
Liang has two daughters, aged nine and 11, whom she was supporting, Leo revealed.
District Judge Lim Tse Haw disagreed that the amount was insubstantial. He pointed out that there was a breach of trust in Liang’s case as she was expected to carry out her duty with honesty.
For cheating, Liang could have been jailed up to three years and/or fined.
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