SINGAPORE: The director of a construction company gave at least S$192,000 in bribes to a facilities management director at the Singapore Zoological Gardens, now known as the Singapore Zoo.
At the time of the offences, the zoo was a subsidiary of Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), which had awarded jobs worth more than $3.7 million and paid nearly $2.7 million to Ultron Construction.
Now known as the Mandai Wildlife Group, WRS suffered a loss of at least $192,000 due to inflated bids that Ultron had submitted under the corrupt arrangements.
The company director, Wong Eng Kuen, 46, was sentenced to eight months’ jail on Friday (Dec 5) after he pleaded guilty to three graft charges involving at least $140,000 in total. He committed these offences in 2016.
Three other charges relating to the remaining amount were considered during his sentencing.
In April, Barry Chong Peng Wee, then 58, who is no longer working for the zoo, was sentenced to six years’ jail after obtaining more than $2.4 million in bribes from multiple people between 2005 and 2016.
Chong, whom the prosecution described as the “central orchestrator” of the graft offences, was also ordered to pay a penalty of more than $2.4 million.
He would have to spend an additional six years, seven months and 13 days behind bars should he fail to pay the amount.
Another accomplice Toh Yong Soon, then 39, was sentenced to three years and three months’ jail in May 2024. He is Wong’s brother-in-law.
He was working for another company called Shin Yong Construction (SYC) at the time of the offences.
In earlier proceedings, the court heard that Toh’s grandfather had set up SYC before he died in 2004.
Two of Toh’s family members – his father and his uncle – then carried on the company’s business.
In 2005, these two older men entered into a corrupt arrangement with Chong.
