Man jailed 20 months, fined for taking kickbacks from vendors

SINGAPORE — A former assistant sales manager at a packaging and labelling company was on Tuesday (May 23) sentenced to 20 months’ jail and ordered to pay close to S$275,000 in penalty for corruption offences related to business contracts he awarded. 

Lu Sang, 36, a Malaysian and Singapore permanent resident, was working with HMLY Private Limited when he took kickbacks from three suppliers and gave them contracts while he pocketed the gains. The company outsources the printing of packaging materials to its suppliers. 

He was convicted of corruptly obtaining more than S$260,000 in these dealings, and faced 27 corruption charges. The prosecution proceeded with 24 during the trial. 

Court documents showed that Lu was appointed as assistant sales manager in June 2008, eight years after he joined the company. The offences took place between 2009 and 2013.

In one instance, he obtained more than S$8,600 from one of the three suppliers, HDL X-Print, through his wife. In another, he received more than S$147,000 from the director of Union Label Industries through its sales executive.

Court documents also showed that he had at first denied all the charges at his eight-day trial, and claimed that he did not receive the money from the vendors. 

The prosecution charged that he was “inconsistent” throughout the trial, and called on the court to discredit Lu as a witness. Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Ang Siok Chen said: “Clearly, the accused was prepared to change his positions and advanced tenuous claims so as to avoid being pinned down by incriminating evidence.”

In arguing for a sentence of at least 20 to 24 months, DPP Ang said that Lu had “received staggering amounts of gratification”, over a prolonged period of time. The money he took “went against the business ethics rules of the company”, she added. 

“His actions caused detriment to HMLY by causing (it) to pay more for the print jobs it placed with these suppliers,” DPP Ang said. 

In a media release on Tuesday, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau said that the awarding of business contracts “should be fair and in the best interests of the organisation”. 

“Unscrupulous dealings for dishonest personal gains can lead to serious consequences,” it said, adding that it takes a serious view of any corrupt practices and would not hesitate to take action against any party involved in such acts.