Former BCA officer sentenced to 8 weeks' jail for corruption
Former temporary inspection officer with the Building and Construction Authority, Tan Ming Lie, was sentenced to eight weeks’ jail and ordered to pay a penalty of S$600 for corruption. (Photo: CPIB)
SINGAPORE: A former Building and Construction Authority (BCA) officer was on Wednesday (Oct 6) sentenced to eight weeks' jail and ordered to pay a penalty of S$600 for corruption, said the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) in a news release.
Tan Ming Lie, 32, was a temporary inspection officer at BCA at the time.
The Singaporean was responsible for conducting inspections on construction sites and dormitories to ensure that relevant COVID-19 safe management measures were adhered to, as well as to follow up on any breaches found.
On Nov 24, 2020, he was assigned to inspect a construction site managed by Domain Trading & Construction at 69 Begonia Drive.
"CPIB investigations revealed that when Tan contacted a general manager of Domain Trading through WhatsApp to arrange the inspection time, Tan sent his personal name card indicating himself to be a safety and sales manager of Angelshield Safety Consultant, and informed the general manager of Domain Trading that he also provided other types of services," said the release.
During the site inspection the following day, Tan told the site staff that the safe management measures monitoring plan was insufficient.
He also said that Domain Trading would not be able to draft a proper plan within the 48-hour timeline to submit to BCA.
"The general manager of Domain Trading then called Tan, who gave the impression that Domain Trading might be issued with a stop works order if they do not comply immediately with a proper safe management measures plan," said CPIB.
"Afraid that Tan would harshly report to BCA on Domain Trading’s non-compliance, the general manager of Domain Trading engaged Angelshield’s service to draft a safe management measures plan for a fee of S$600, and made the payment to Tan by cheque sometime in December 2020."
Tan, who was charged on Aug 27, had another charge under the Prevention of Corruption Act taken into consideration during his sentencing.
"Singapore adopts a strict zero-tolerance approach towards corruption," said CPIB.
Anyone convicted of a corruption offence may be fined up to S$100,000, jailed up to five years, or both.
"The maximum imprisonment term for each offence of corruption can be increased to seven years if it is in relation to a matter or contract with the Government or public body, or a subcontract to execute work comprised in such contract," CPIB added.
