CPIB head to be replaced in October

SINGAPORE — The head of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) will be replaced when his term ends next month, a move that comes after a CPIB Assistant Director was charged last month with misappropriating S$1.76 million.

Incumbent CPIB Director Eric Tan, 52, will make way for Mr Wong Hong Kuan, 42, when his three-year term ends on Sept 30. Mr Tan will be deployed to other duties, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) announced yesterday.

Mr Wong is currently the Chief Executive of the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) and was formerly Deputy Commissioner of Police (Policy). He will be posted to the bureau from Sept 1 as Director-designate and take over on Oct 1. He will work with Mr Tan to “ensure a smooth and seamless handover”.

An independent review panel was appointed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong after the alleged wrongdoings of Edwin Yeo Seow Hiong surfaced in September last year. Yeo was Assistant Director of CPIB’s Field Research and Technical Support Branch before he was interdicted on Sept 15 last year.

He faces 21 charges relating to the misappropriation of funds, criminal breach of trust and forgery, He also allegedly gambled away about S$241,000 of the public funds at the Marina Bay Sands casino. About S$67,000 of the allegedly misappropriated funds have been recovered.

Mr Wong’s taking over from Mr Tan was “to maintain public trust and confidence in CPIB and to fully implement the Review Panel’s recommendations”, the PMO said.

Among other things, the panel found supervisory lapses that had resulted in deficiencies in financial controls and the loss of public funds.

The lapses occurred under Mr Tan and his predecessor Soh Kee Hean, who both had supervisory and command responsibilities over Yeo.

Both Mr Tan and Mr Soh have been issued formal warning letters for their lapses and have “accepted responsibility for them”, said the PMO, adding that its statement “does not touch on Yeo’s innocence or guilt” on the charges he faces. Mr Soh, who was CPIB Director from 2005 to September 2010, is currently Deputy Executive Director at the Council for Estate Agencies.

The PMO said: “Despite this supervisory lapse, Mr Eric Tan has made many contributions to the CPIB, strengthening the organisation and handling major corruption cases. He will be redeployed to other duties where his knowledge and experience will be valuable.”

When Yeo was charged last month, Mr Tan had said in a CPIB statement that he was “deeply sorry that a loss of public funds occurred during my watch” and accepted responsibility for lapses or deficiencies that “allowed a senior staff’s actions to go undetected for four years”.