Dinners involving ministers, Fujian gang member Su Haijin complied with COVID-19 measures: Sam Goi

SINGAPORE: The group sizes of the private dinners involving convicted money launderer Su Haijin and Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat, labour chief Ng Chee Meng and Health Minister Ong Ye Kung complied with the applicable COVID-19 safe management measures at the time, said local businessman Sam Goi.

In a statement issued to the media on Friday (May 9), Mr Goi said he had checked his records and provided the dates for each of the three dinners, which he earlier said he had organised and paid for.

This comes after pictures of the gatherings were posted online by former Reform Party chairman and fugitive lawyer Charles Yeo.

Mr Goi said the dinner with Mr Chee was held on Nov 19, 2020, when Singapore had a five-person limit on social gatherings. In the photo of this gathering, there were five people.

The dinner with Mr Ng was held on May 1, 2021, when social gatherings were limited to eight people. Only Mr Ng and Su were seen in the photo of this gathering.

The dinner with Mr Ong was held on May 10, 2022, said Mr Goi. There were 14 people in the picture of this event. At that time, Singapore had no group size limit in place.

"The group size on each occasion was in full compliance with the applicable COVID safe management measures at the material time," said Mr Goi, the owner and executive chairman of Tee Yih Jia Food Manufacturing.

Mr Goi had earlier told Bloomberg that the dinner with Mr Ng took place at some point in "around 2020", with Bloomberg reporting that all three meals took place before Singapore implemented any of the COVID-19 restrictions that the country saw that year.

Ministers Ong Ye Kung and Chee Hong Tat had earlier announced via their press secretaries that they do not know Su, who was one of the 10 people convicted in the billion-dollar money laundering case last year.

"As ministers, they meet a diverse range of people at various events and gatherings," said the press secretaries on Tuesday.

"They attended the dinners at the invitation of a friend, and Su happened to be there. Minister Ong recalls that months later, at another dinner, Su happened to be there too."

They said the ministers do not know Su personally and have had no contact or dealings with him, before or since these occasions.

Similarly, labour chief Ng Chee Meng said he had met Su at a dinner "some time back" and had no further interactions with him after learning about the police investigations.

"As the secretary-general of NTUC, it is part of my work to engage with different companies and private sector leaders. These engagements help me better understand the concerns and challenges in different industries," Mr Ng said in response to media queries.

"At these engagements, people would often approach me for photographs. This dinner was one such engagement. It took place some time back."