Director gave $325k in bribes to LTA senior executive

The sole director and shareholder of an engineering firm gave bribes totalling $325,000 in the form of loans to a Land Transport Authority (LTA) deputy group director.

Zhang Xihu was then working for MEPT Engineering – a sales agent for the China Railway Engineering Equipment Group (CREG), a China-based manufacturer of tunnel boring machines.

Such machines are used in the construction of underground railway lines, among others.

Zhang gave the money to Henry Foo Yung Thye, who resigned from LTA in September 2019, as inducements to advance MEPT Engineering’s business interests with the agency.

Between March and April 2018, Foo repaid Zhang to the tune of $21,000, and has made no other repayments.

On July 19, the 56-year-old Zhang was sentenced to two years’ jail after he pleaded guilty to three graft charges involving $310,000 in total. Four other charges relating to the remaining amount were considered during sentencing.

Deputy public prosecutors David Menon and Yap Jia Jun told the court that between 2015 and 2018, MEPT Engineering successfully facilitated the sale of CREG tunnel boring machines for the construction of MRT tunnels for the Thomson-East Coast Line.

They added: “Although there is no evidence that (Zhang) secured any contracts as a result of the bribes he gave to Foo, (he) cultivated Foo as an insider at LTA through the loans.”

Zhang and Foo first met when they were working on various MRT projects in or around 2004.

They reconnected in late 2012, shortly after Zhang set up MEPT Engineering.

In 2016, Foo approached Zhang to ask for a loan, telling the latter that he had run into some financial troubles and urgently needed assistance.

Foo failed to mention that his financial woes were due to debts he had accumulated through gambling.

Zhang agreed to the loan, and on April 27, 2016, he transferred $10,000 to Foo from his personal bank account.

The loan was extended interest-free, with no explicit repayment terms.

In early 2017, Foo again approached Zhang, telling him that he needed more money to resolve his financial issues.

Zhang declined to hand him more money at first, but gave in when Foo pestered him.

On two occasions in April and May 2017, Zhang transferred $300,000 in total from MEPT Engineering’s corporate bank account to his personal one.

Zhang later withdrew the amount, gave the money to Foo and made him sign statements of loan.

The DPPs said: “These statements of loan... did not state that Foo was obligated to repay (the loans), nor did they state any other terms for the loans.

“There was never any discussion or agreement regarding when Foo was to return the loans, and Zhang did not chase Foo for repayment.”

Following these incidents, the prosecutors said there was evidence that Zhang successfully cultivated Foo as an insider at LTA.

Among other things, Zhang told Foo between May 13 and 14, 2019, that he hoped LTA’s tender interviews would be held after May 24 as Zhang was travelling to Japan.

Foo then conducted a check and confirmed that the tender interviews would be held from May 27 to 28 that year.

Court documents did not disclose how the offences came to light, but Foo and Zhang were later hauled to court in 2020.

Zhang’s bail was set at $100,000 on July 19, and he is expected to begin serving his sentence in October.

In September 2021, Foo, then 47, was sentenced to five years and six months’ jail after taking some $1.24 million in bribes in the form of loans from multiple contractors and sub-contractors.

The Singaporean, who had pleaded guilty to seven counts of corruption, was also ordered to pay a penalty of $1,156,250, equivalent to the amount he had not returned.