SINGAPORE - A director of a construction firm continued with his predecessor’s dishonest ways and became involved in the submission of 48 fabricated supporting quotations to Gardens by the Bay.
Tan Hong Chian, 59, was the director and sole decision-maker of Full House Building Construction when the firm was awarded 25 jobs, worth nearly $96,000 in all, under the dishonest scheme.
On March 18, he pleaded guilty to 10 charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act and was sentenced to four weeks’ jail.
He is no longer a director at Full House, but a search with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority reveals he is still a shareholder there.
His predecessor and sister-in-law at the time of the offences, Goh Siew Ling, then 51, was sentenced to 13 weeks’ jail in April 2023 after she pleaded guilty to 20 charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
In earlier proceedings, Deputy Public Prosecutor Vincent Ong said Goh, also known as Margaret, was a director at Full House from July 2013 to June 2018.
DPP Ong told the court: “Margaret was the key mover and genesis of the conspiracy, whose directions set the entire scheme into motion and perpetuated it across different employees in Full House through her instructions. She is by far the most culpable person involved in the conspiracy.”
Get a round-up of the top stories to start your day
Thank you!
Sign up
By signing up, I accept SPH Media's Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy as amended from time to time.
Yes, I would also like to receive SPH Media Group's SPH Media Limited, its related corporations and affiliates as well as their agents and authorised service providers.
marketing and promotions.
She was linked to 88 fabricated quotations. As a result, Full House was awarded 49 jobs, worth nearly $766,000 in all, from 2017 to 2018.
On July 4, 2017, Gardens by the Bay awarded the firm a two-year term contract for building improvement and maintenance work.
The contract had set out a schedule of rates (SOR) that listed the agreed rates for specified common building improvement and maintenance work. For such jobs, Full House would invoice Gardens by the Bay according to the SOR.
There was other work with no rates specified, known as “star rate items”. For such jobs, Full House had to independently obtain three quotations from other firms. It was allowed to submit its own quotation as one of the three.
Jail for ex-director of construction firm over fabricated quotes to Gardens by the Bay
Ex-prison officer who tried to obtain $133k in bribes from inmate gets more than 3 years’ jail
These submitted quotations would then be reviewed by Gardens by the Bay staff. If they were in order, the staff would make recommendations to their director for approval.
From July 2017, Full House did not obtain genuine quotations from other firms for star rate items, after Goh hatched a scheme to fabricate two quotations that were priced higher than the one from Full House.
As part of the ruse, two of her subordinates would prepare two fictitious quotations using soft-copy templates of other contractors’ company letterheads, which Goh provided.
The subordinates would intentionally price the two quotes higher than the one from Full House.
Full House’s quotation and the two fictitious ones would then be submitted to Gardens by the Bay staff.
On multiple occasions, the job was awarded to Full House.
In 2018, Tan became a director at Full House after buying out its other shareholders, identified as his brother and Goh.
He continued committing similar offences from July to December 2018. Among other things, Tan worked with his then subordinates on a case involving fabricated quotations for painting work at the attraction.
The fabricated quotations contained statements that were false, stating that two other companies had each purportedly quoted sums of more than $6,000 for the job, when in fact both firms had no intention of performing the task.
Full House, which issued a quotation of $3,600, later clinched the job, the court heard.
Tan’s bail was set at $15,000 on March 18, and he is expected to surrender himself at the State Courts on April 4 to begin serving his sentence.
16 charged with corruption in relation to advertisement and servicing contracts
8 months’ jail for Singaporean man involved in fixing basketball matches in Thailand
Unlock unlimited access to ST exclusive content, insights and analyses
ST One Digital - Annual
$9.90 $4.95 /month
Get offer
$59.40 for the first year and $118.80 per year thereafter.
ST One Digital - Monthly
29.90 $9.90 /month
Subscribe today
No lock-in contract
Unlock more knowledge, unlock more benefits
New feature: Stay up to date on important topics and follow your favourite writers with myST All subscriber-only content on ST app and straitstimes.com Easy access any time via ST app on one mobile device
Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
Singapore courts Crime Gardens by the Bay
Facebook Telegram More Whatsapp Linkedin Twitter FB Messenger Email Print Purchase Article Copy permalink https://str.sg/8kwH
Read this subscriber-only article for free!
Just sign up for a free account and log in to continue reading.
Jail for ex-director of construction firm over fabricated quotes to Gardens by the Bay
Sign up
Already have an account? Log in.
All done! This article is now fully available for you
Jail for ex-director of construction firm over fabricated quotes to Gardens by the Bay
Read now
Please verify your e-mail to read this subscriber-only article in full
Jail for ex-director of construction firm over fabricated quotes to Gardens by the Bay
Resend verification e-mail
The gift link for this subscriber-only article has expired.
Get unlimited access to all stories at $0.99/month for the first 3 months.
Subscribe now
You have reached your limit of subscriber-only articles this month.
Get unlimited access to all stories at $0.99/month for the first 3 months.
Subscribe now
Read and win!
Read 3 articles and stand to win rewards
Let's go! Terms & conditions apply
Frequently asked questions
Good job, you've read 3 articles today!
Spin the wheel now
Let's go! Terms & conditions apply
Frequently asked questions