Ex-sales manager at firm dealing in pipes jailed for graft
SINGAPORE — A former senior sales manager at a company dealing in pipes used by the oil and gas industry was sentenced to 52 months’ jail yesterday for offering and accepting kickbacks from the firm’s customers and freight-forwarders.
Dennis Yong Hock Guan, 58, was convicted of 10 counts under the Prevention of Corruption Act for receiving corrupt gratification, three counts of abetting the giving of corrupt gratification, one count of cheating and one count of criminal breach of trust. Another 31 charges were taken into consideration. Yong must also serve an additional six months in default as he is unable to pay a S$183,279 penalty — the sum he gained from the offences committed between 2007 and 2011.
The court heard that Yong, who served in Mid-Continent Tubular Pte Ltd (MCT) as senior sales manager from 1991 to March 2012, had on one occasion in 2009 sold drill pipes that belonged to one of MCT’s clients without authority, pocketing US$190,500 (S$270, 949). In 2007, Yong also corruptly agreed to give a sourcing manager at multinational oil drilling contractor TransOcean Eastern S$78,800 as in bribes to influence the manager not to negotiate for lower prices in business contracts. Investigations revealed that Yong later kept more than a quarter of the promised gratification for himself.
Pressing for a deterrent punishment of 66 months, Deputy Public Prosecutor Sanjiv Vaswani said Yong’s serial offences were premeditated, occurred over a considerable period of time and involved a large sum of bribes.
Pleading for a lower sentence of 40 months, defence lawyer Amarjit Singh said Yong had made full restitution to the companies involved. He also urged the court to consider Yong’s old age, multiple physical ailments, such as hypertension and heart disease, as mitigating factors.
Yong could have been jailed 10 years and fined for cheating, and jailed seven years and fined for criminal breach of trust. For each charge under the Prevention of Corruption Act, he could have been jailed up to five years and fined S$100,000. KELLY NG
