By Andrew Wong for The Straits Times
Copyright tnp
A school facilities manager allegedly took more than $67,000 in bribes by allowing three individuals to further their business with the school.
The 58-year-old man is accused of accepting bribes on 31 separate occasions over a period of nearly six years from February 2018 to January 2023.
At the time of the offences, Ng Cher Him was working as a facilities manager at St Joseph’s Institution (SJI).
The Straits Times has contacted SJI for comment.
On Sept 18, Ng was handed nine charges – six for corruptly obtaining or accepting gratification from others in his capacity as facilities manager of SJI and three for misleading the school with false quotations.
Ng is accused of accepting bribes totalling $24,820 from Renee Song Mui Kuan, a sales manager for construction firm FB Services, on 12 occasions from 2018 and 2020.
This was allegedly Ng’s reward for allowing Song’s firm to continue its business with SJI.
He also reportedly pocketed another $34,780 from Song on another 13 occasions between 2020 and 2023 under the same arrangement.
Song, 53, was handed four charges on Sept 18 for allegedly bribing Ng to further her company’s business stake with SJI.
The facilities manager is also accused of accepting a bribe of $5,000 from Ooi Kim Wei, a director of air-conditioning firm EuconAir Services, on one occasion between January 2021 and February 2021.
On Sept 18, Ooi, 48, was given one charge for allegedly giving the bribe to Ng as a reward for furthering his firm’s business with SJI.
Meanwhile, Ng is also accused of obtaining at least $2,500 from Margaret Chin Lee Lan, a director at securities firm Integrated Security Solution Asia Pacific.
He had reportedly received the money from the 71-year-old woman over five occasions between 2020 and 2022.
Ng and Chin are also accused of conspiring to come up with a set of false quotations, over six occasions in 2019 and 2020, for the supply and installation of a CCTV system within the school compound, to mislead SJI into accepting the arrangement.
On Sept 18, Chin was handed four charges, for allegedly bribing Ng to further her firm’s business with SJI and for conspiring with others to mislead SJI with false statements and quotations.
Ng will return to court on Oct 30 for his next mention, while Song, Ooi and Chin will return to court on Oct 16.
Those found guilty of corruption offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act can be jailed for up to five years, fined up to $100,000, or both.
