Man jailed for bribing S'pore zoo director at least $126,500

Another man involved in giving bribes to a then director of the zoo in Singapore has been given a jail sentence.

To Chai Kiat, who was the sole director and shareholder of a construction firm at the time of the offences, was sentenced to nine months’ jail on July 2 after earlier pleading guilty to three graft charges.

He worked with other men to give at least $126,500 in bribes to Barry Chong Peng Wee, who was then the facilities management director at the Singapore Zoological Gardens.

Several others linked to the case were given jail sentences earlier.

They include Too Say Kiong, who was then working for another firm called Shin Yong Construction (SYC), and Toh Yong Soon, who joined SYC later.

The attraction, now known as the Singapore Zoo, was a subsidiary of a company called Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), now known as the Mandai Wildlife Group.

Chong, 57, has since left WRS and his case is pending.

To, 50, committed his offences from 2015 to 2016.

At the time of the offences, To, who is a Malaysian, was working for KK Iron Engineering (KKI). A search with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority revealed that he is no longer a director at KKI. He is now a director at another firm, KK Decor.

Due to the acts of corruption, KKI was awarded multiple contracts with WRS worth more than $1 million. The case involved marked-up prices. WRS’ losses totalled more than $267,000 as a result.

The quotations for projects WRS received would be collated and presented to Chong. The managers working under him would generally award the job to the lowest quote received.

As the head of department at the time, Chong would be the final approver of projects or jobs that did not require the involvement of a tender adjudication committee.

In earlier proceedings, the court heard that two other men – Toh Say Yong and Too – who were then working for SYC entered into a corrupt arrangement with Chong in 2005.

The case involving Toh Say Yong, 69, is pending, while Too, then 57, was sentenced to two years and two months’ jail in October 2023.

Toh’s son, Toh Yong Soon, who later joined SYC, started taking part in similar offences in 2015.

Toh Yong Soon, then 39, was sentenced to three years and three months’ jail in May.

In 2015, Toh Yong Soon recruited into the scheme Koh Kian Hee, 41, who was then a director and shareholder of construction firm Geoscapes, said deputy public prosecutors (DPPs) Kelvin Chong, Shamini Joseph and Darren Sim.

According to court documents, Koh later roped in To, who agreed to be part of the plan. In turn, To recruited Chong Yun Chia, 40, who was then a project manager for KKI.

The prosecutors said: “(Chong Yun Chia) and the accused (To) would consult Koh whenever they wanted to submit quotations for WRS jobs. Koh would then inform of the price to bid at, which would include a mark-up of about 35 per cent of the job value.

“If KKI was awarded the WRS job, KKI would pay the mark-up value of about 35 per cent to ‘lao ban’, or ‘boss’, as a reward.”

Court documents stated that “lao ban” turned out to be Barry Chong. Despite his offences, To did not know who “lao ban” was and did not have interactions with him.

“Commissions” to Barry Chong were paid in cash. Each month, Koh would contact either Chong Yun Chia or To when such “commissions” needed to be paid, said the DPPs.

After these calls, a cash cheque from KKI’s bank account would be prepared. It would be encashed, and either Chong Yun Chia or To would pass the cash to Koh so that the monies could be given to Barry Chong.

Court documents did not disclose how the offences came to light, but the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau started looking into the case in October 2016.

In September 2021, To was among a group of 12 men who were charged in court over their roles in the cases linked to Barry Chong.