CPIB officer charged with misappropriating S$1.7m

SINGAPORE — His job was to enforce the law and he was entrusted, like his colleagues, with the mission of maintaining the integrity of the Singapore system. But over four years, between 2008 and September last year, CPIB officer Edwin Yeo Seow Hiong, 39, allegedly misappropriated more than S$1.7 million of public funds which were meant for buying goods and services required by his department.

His cover was blown last September — it is understood that someone blew the whistle on him — and he was hauled to court yesterday, in the latest stain on the Public Service’s squeaky clean reputation.

Yeo had spent 15 years with the CPIB and he was Assistant Director of its Field Research and Technical Support (FRTS) Branch before he was interdicted on Sept 15 last year, a day after the CPIB first discovered signs of alleged wrongdoing and had conducted preliminary investigations.

Facing 21 charges — for misappropriation, criminal breach of trust and forgery — Yeo was alleged to have gambled away, at the Marina Bay Sands casino, about S$241,000 of public funds. Of this amount, S$67,000 has been recovered by the authorities.

Yeo also allegedly tried to fool CPIB Assistant Director of Administration and Support Department Sze Chinyu into believing that a CPIB vendor had received a voucher of S$370,755 for the procurement of equipment in March 2011.

The case, the third time in nine days that a senior law enforcer has been charged, drew assurances from two Cabinet ministers — Deputy Prime Minister and Minister in charge of the Civil Service Teo Chee Hean and Law and Foreign Minister K Shanmugam — that the Public Service is held to the highest standards of integrity and conduct, and any errant public officer will be dealt with firmly.

Last Monday, former Senior Staff Sergeant Iskandar Rahmat, 34, was charged with the murders of two men. Iskandar was in financial difficulties but was not known to be a gambler. Last Friday, Lim Kwo Yin, 36, a Deputy Superintendent, was fined S$10,000 for negligence that led to the death of a Changi Prison inmate.

In a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Mr Teo said that in Yeo’s case, it was “particularly serious because it involved a senior officer in the CPIB, which is entrusted with the mission of maintaining the integrity of the system”.

He stressed that “there must be strong enforcement when there is wrongdoing”.

“Weaknesses in processes must be tightened, and most importantly there must be good values, ” he added.

Mr Shanmugam, who was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a visit to an exhibition at the Supreme Court, said that it was inevitable that some people “succumb to temptation”, be it in the Civil Service or the private sector. “What we need to do is to always be vigilant, be on top of it, and make sure that these are the exceptions and they don’t become the norm,” he said.

Accused owned two firms

The CPIB reports to the PMO and the latter is examining whether there were any supervisory lapses. If so, it will take action against the officers responsible.

Yeo is currently out on bail after he managed to raise the S$500,000 bail bond set by the court.

Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) records showed that Yeo had owned Tara Enterprise, a company purportedly involved in general wholesale trade and the manufacture of rattan and cane furniture. Yeo was made the owner on Nov 20, 2006 but he withdrew from the position on Sept 21 last year, a week after his alleged offences were first discovered. He also owned a second company, CF Enterprise, which was registered on Nov 17, 2011 but has since closed down. Both Tara Enterprise and CF Enterprise were listed as having the same address at a office unit in Peninsula Plaza.

When TODAY visited the address, the premises housed a different company whose staff said that it has been occupying the unit for more than a decade and they did not know Yeo.

His neighbours at his Woodlands HDB flat said that Yeo, who is married with a young son, did not interact much and the door to his unit was “always closed”.

The CPIB said Yeo had access to public funds as his responsibilities included managing the operating budget of the FRTS Branch.

Upon discovery, Yeo’s alleged wrongdoings were reported to the Commercial Affairs Department for an independent investigation.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also appointed an independent review panel which reviewed the circumstances that led to the loss of public funds and made recommendations on the CPIB’s financial administration and operations.

Yeo, who appeared calm in court yesterday, told the judge that he had no intention of engaging counsel and requested between eight and 10 weeks to prepare his mitigation plea and to “settle family problems”.

For each charge of misappropriation of property in the capacity of a civil servant, Yeo could face life imprisonment and a fine. For forgery, he could be jailed up to four years and fined. He could be jailed for up to seven years and fined up to S$500,000 on each charge of criminal breach of trust. The case will be mentioned on Aug 21.