SINGAPORE — Their “dirty” activities were gnawing on his conscience. Fearing that he would be caught, Mr Tay Eng Chuan, the business partner of company director Chia Sin Lan, tried to impress upon him that they had “crossed the line” and that the company had “entered a dark realm”.

Mr Tay was being questioned on Tuesday (Nov 13) about his role in remitting money to Ms Xu Hongmei, mistress of Wong Chee Meng, former general manager of Ang Mo Kio Town Council (AMKTC). Ms Xu was from China.

Speaking through a translator, Mr Tay told the court in Mandarin: “I felt that this was inappropriate because the money remitted was not for business purposes, but a form of bribery.”

Wong, also known as Victor, 58, is accused of taking bribes mostly from Chia, 62. The sum totalled more than S$107,000, including entertainment expenses and remittances of about S$30,000 to Wong’s mistress.

Chia is director and shareholder of 19-ANC Enterprise and 19-NS2 Enterprise, which deal with general building, repairs and redecoration works. The dealings between the two men allegedly helped 19-ANC and 19-NS2 to score contracts with the town council.

Mr Tay, also a shareholder of 19-NS2, has been maintaining the financial records for 19-NS2.

Taking the stand as the prosecution’s witness, Mr Tay had to account for WhatsApp messages exchanged between Chia and himself regarding Wong’s mistress.

Wong had sent a phone text message to a Mr David Gan, Chia’s supplier in China, saying that Ms Xu was looking for a higher-paying job in Singapore and may wish to go back to work in a karaoke lounge as a “performing artiste”.

This led to discussions over agent fees.

Wong then sent the messages to Chia, who forwarded them to Mr Tay.

Referring to Wong’s request to handle the fees, Mr Tay then replied Chia in Chinese: “Come again, scary.”

To that, Chia said: “Yes, there are many matters and all these (are) for his ‘vegetables’ (‘women’).”

In court, Mr Tay elaborated on what he meant: “Once again, I was seeing these dirty and mathematical figures, so it was very scary. This matter concerned money and arranging a job for Victor Wong’s mistress, and this had once again crossed the line.”

When Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Jiang Ke-Yue asked why it was “scary” to him, Mr Tay said: “Because I felt these things had already diverged from the reason why the company (19-NS2) was initially set up… already differed from its original principles, and it had entered a dark realm.”

Earlier, DPP Jiang asked about the mobile phone that Wong used to call Ms Xu in China.

Mr Ng Fook Meng, a foreman who worked for Mr Tay, testified in September that he had signed up for an iPhone plan for Wong. Chia told Mr Tay at first that the phone was for his (Chia’s) personal use.

Chia did the same for a debit card registered under Mr Tay’s company that he used to pay for Wong’s entertainment expenses.

Mr Tay told the court on Tuesday that he started to “feel a little afraid” at that juncture, because he “would not be able to run away” if the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau or other government officials checked the card.

‘A HEADACHE’

The court heard that Mr Tay had also asked Chia how they got into the mess of having to handle Wong’s personal matters with regards to Wong’s daughter-in-law, Ms Stella Le Thi Hien.

Mr Tay testified on Monday that Ms Le wanted to work at 19-ANC, but Chia instead found her work at one of their subcontractors, 4-Ever Engineering, and paid her salary from March 2016. After she got into an argument with two colleagues, Chia arranged for her to work at 19-ANC from July 2016.

On July 15 in 2016, Chia complained to Mr Tay that he was having breakfast but still had to deal with Ms Le’s problems at 4-Ever Engineering.

Mr Tay then told Chia: “This is a headache, why did it turn out like this?”

He also asked Chia how they could handle it, since it had turned into a more serious issue.

Mr Tay elaborated in court that he felt this should be a dispute among colleagues, and that Wong’s interference had complicated what should be a simple matter.

Mr Tay was concerned that he would get into trouble if his name cropped up, and with “so many troubles”, even if they earned a lot of money, it would not be a happy situation.

He explained: “Many of these things happening inside were dishonest or involved some sort of bribery. Even if we earned money from this, I would not know when I might be questioned or convicted. And even if we earned and spent this money… these were immoral or dirty money.”

LOOKING TO ESCAPE

Other text and voice messages between Chia and Mr Tay — sent one evening in July 2016 before Chia and Wong went for drinks at a karaoke club — were examined in court.

In one message, Chia showed Mr Tay some “sexy photos”. Mr Tay asked if he had sent them to Wong, calling him “lecherous” in Hokkien.

Mr Tay explained to DPP Jiang that Chia had described Wong as being lecherous, going by his behaviour at karaoke pubs. “In the KTV, even though there were many people around (hostesses or Chia), (Wong) would do anything he wanted. He would hug everyone and touch everything,” Mr Tay added.

The next morning, Chia told Mr Tay that Wong informed him he had lost the phone he used to call his mistress, but later, they found the phone in Chia’s car.

Keeping up with Wong’s frequent late-night drinking sessions, proved to be too much even for Chia, who then said he wanted to tell Wong he was seeing a doctor in order to stop drinking with him.

Chia said in a voice message to Mr Tay: “I cannot take it any longer. Later, when I drive to Ng Teng Fong Hospital, I will snap a photo and show him (where I am). I have only half my life remaining, I cannot continue this anymore.”

The trial continues on Wednesday, with the prosecution expected to complete its examination of Mr Tay.