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Dan Tan’s ex-wife convicted of giving false information to CPIB

SINGAPORE — She portrayed herself as a “meek housewife” who knew little about her ex-husband’s alleged crimes, but lied in an attempt to throw investigations into her husband off course.

Guan Enmei, the ex-wife of alleged match fixing kingpin Dan Tan, was found guilty of lying to the CPIB. Photo: Damien Teo/TODAY

Guan Enmei, the ex-wife of alleged match fixing kingpin Dan Tan, was found guilty of lying to the CPIB. Photo: Damien Teo/TODAY

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SINGAPORE — She portrayed herself as a “meek housewife” who knew little about her ex-husband’s alleged crimes, but lied in an attempt to throw investigations into her husband off course.

Rapping alleged match-fixing kingpin Dan Tan’s ex-wife Guan Enmei for her lack of credibility, District Judge Lee Poh Choo on Monday (June 13) found her guilty of giving false information to a Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) investigator.

During a two-day trial last month, the prosecution had charged that Guan, 41, had stated in an interview at CPIB on June 6, 2013, that she had left home with only her handbag, and had not brought a paper bag containing two laptops with her. The two laptops, which belonged to Tan, were later seized by the CPIB. During the trial, Guan insisted that she had never been asked about the laptops at CPIB, contrary to what senior special investigator Lim Yen Chun had testified.

The court heard that on June 6, 2013, Tan had gone to CPIB at Lengkok Bahru in the morning to assist with investigations. Prior to leaving home, Tan instructed Guan to retrieve two laptops from the study and pass them to him later. Hours later, Guan was also called up for investigation, and brought the two laptops with her. En route, she called convicted match-fixer Eric Ding, a friend of her ex-husband, and asked him for advice.

Before entering the bureau, she handed the laptops to her driver, and told him to wait at a nearby coffee shop. But midway through her interview, CPIB officers apprehended the driver and confiscated the laptops.

On Monday, DJ Lee ripped into Guan’s account of events. “To any person, a locked safe or cabinet in the home must be safer than to leave items of value with a driver. Hence, her actions … were indicative of her knowledge that the laptops contained incriminating information and must be kept from CPIB,” she said.

Guan’s lack of credibility was evident in the way she initially feigned ignorance over her ex-husband being investigated for match-fixing, until she was confronted with evidence. She had also lied about her mode of transport to the bureau “to throw CPIB off the trail and to delink her connection to the limousine as she had left the laptops with the driver”.

“(Guan) portrayed herself as a meek housewife who was ignorant of her husband’s activities and business ... I did not believe her. She struck me as a savvy, knowledgeable and capable lady,” said the judge.

Pushing for a jail term of four to six months, Deputy Public Prosecutor Jasmin Kaur said that Guan was willing to go to lengths to prevent the laptops from falling into the hands of CPIB — concealing the laptops in an “inconspicuous” white paper bag, calling Ding, and later passing it to her driver for safekeeping. “The motivation behind the provision of false information is much more sinister — it was to actively obstruct the CPIB from obtaining evidence that was likely to be relevant to international match-fixing,” said DPP Kaur.

Defence lawyer Foo Cheow Ming, however, argued that Guan had acted in a state of panic. Urging that she be fined, he said that the false information had minimal, if any, impact on investigations, given that the laptops eventually fell into CPIB’s possession.

Also, Tan, who is currently being detained under the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act, had not been charged and was presumably innocent, said Mr Foo. Therefore, Guan’s lie had “no provable consequence”. District Judge Lee will deliver the sentence next Monday.

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