{"id":93507,"date":"2026-10-16T21:12:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T13:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=93507"},"modified":"2026-10-16T21:12:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T13:12:00","slug":"company-director-jailed-for-role-in-corruption-case-involving-dso-national-laboratories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=93507","title":{"rendered":"Company director jailed for role in corruption case involving DSO National Laboratories"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"text-primary article-summary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">SINGAPORE \u2013<!-- --> A company director who indirectly bribed a staff member of DSO National Laboratories was sentenced to 10 months and two weeks\u2019 jail on Oct 16.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Jason Chua Aik Leng, 67, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/courts-crime\/company-director-gave-bribes-to-win-construction-project-at-spores-defence-research-organisation?ref=inline-article\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"gap-x-04 items-center inline text-primary-60 select-auto\" aria-label=\"link\" target=\"_blank\" data-testid=\"custom-link\"><span class=\"inline font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"typography-test-id\">previously pleaded guilty<\/span><\/a> to one charge of abetting the corrupt giving of gratification.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">He was the senior executive director and shareholder of Wah Loon Engineering (WLE).<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">According to court documents, around 2018, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/courts-crime\/dso-assistant-manager-charged-with-accepting-bribes-worth-230k-in-cash-gifts-over-10-years?ref=inline-article\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"gap-x-04 items-center inline text-primary-60 select-auto\" aria-label=\"link\" target=\"_blank\" data-testid=\"custom-link\"><span class=\"inline font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"typography-test-id\">Poh Beng San, an assistant manager of DSO\u2019s facilities management team,<\/span><\/a> told sub-contractor Alex Lee Yew Huat that DSO was looking for contractors to carry out works for one of its buildings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">DSO is Singapore\u2019s largest defence research and development organisation. It serves public functions relating to national defence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The court was told<!-- --> Poh had asked for a token of appreciation if the contractor secured the project.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Lee, a supervisor at fire protection company Fire-Mech, contacted Chua, saying he had inside information from someone in DSO who could help WLE win the project.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Chua was to then sub-contract the fire protection portion to Fire-Mech, and give about 1% of the contract price to that someone in DSO as a token of appreciation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Chua agreed, and in January 2018, DSO extended tenders for building works to four contractors, of which three had WLE as a sub-contractor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">In September 2018, the contract was awarded to one of the three firms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The project was valued at more than $46 million, with the mechanical and engineering sub-contract valued at $31.7 million.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Court documents said between October 2018 and February 2019, Lee gave Poh at least $150,000 in gratification with the help of a Malaysian director from another company.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The scheme came to light after the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) received a tip-off in February 2023 that Poh had allegedly been receiving gratification from contractors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Chua was hauled in for questioning and admitted to his role.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The cases against Poh and Lee are ongoing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">During the sentencing hearing on Oct 16, District Judge Paul Chan had allowed in part Chua\u2019s application for a deferment of sentence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Chua had sought a deferment until February 2027, so he could celebrate his mother\u2019s 100th birthday in November, take a family trip and celebrate the Lunar New Year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The judge said deferment for a planned holiday and to celebrate the Lunar New Year were not justified. However, he said the 100th birthday of Chua\u2019s mother was justified, as it was an important and exceptional milestone that would not recur.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Chua is out on $100,000 bail<!-- --> and is expected to begin serving his sentence on Nov 23.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">For corruption, he could have been jailed for up to five years and fined $100,000.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">You can report corruption to CPIB on its website or by calling its hotline on 1800-376-0000.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">You can also e-mail\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/courts-crime\/mailto:report@cpib.gov.sg\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"gap-x-04 items-center inline text-primary-60 select-auto\" aria-label=\"link\" target=\"_self\" data-testid=\"custom-link\"><span class=\"inline font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"typography-test-id\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/courts-crime\/mailto:report@cpib.gov.sg\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"gap-x-04 items-center inline text-primary-60 select-auto\" aria-label=\"link\" target=\"_blank\" data-testid=\"custom-link\"><span class=\"inline font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"typography-test-id\">report@cpib.gov.sg<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/a>\u00a0or visit or write to CPIB Headquarters at <!-- -->2 Lengkok Bahru.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/courts-crime\/company-director-jailed-for-role-in-corruption-case-involving-dso-national-laboratories\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SINGAPORE \u2013 A company director who indirectly bribed a staff member of DSO National Laboratories was sentenced to 10 months and two weeks\u2019 jail on&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":93508,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=93507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/93508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=93507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=93507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=93507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}