Man accused of bribing former AMK Town Council’s GM asked business partner to apply for debit card to hide affairs

SINGAPORE — A debit card which was used by company director Chia Sin Lan to pay for entertaining the former general manager of Ang Mo Kio Town Council (AMKTC) was scrutinised in court on the sixth day of the corruption trial.

The debit card was issued to Mr Tay Eng Chuan, who was Chia's business associate at the company 19-NS2 Enterprise.

Mr Tay told the court on Friday (Nov 9) that Chia wanted the card to be registered under Mr Tay's name as he wanted to hide his extramarital affairs with a mistress and a girlfriend from his family members.

Chia and Mr Tay agreed that the debit card expenses would then be deducted from Chia's share of the profits from a project at Ghim Moh, which both men had an equal stake in.

When Mr Tay later tried to claim the debit card expenses from Chia, his business partner revealed that the card was instead used to pay for entertainment expenses with Wong Chee Meng, AMKTC’s former general manager. Chia did not mention if the debit card was also used for its original purpose of funding his extramarital affairs.

When Mr Tay asked Chia about the discrepancy regarding the usage of the debit card, "Chia just looked at me and didn't respond," said Mr Tay.

Wong, 58, is accused of taking bribes of more than S$107,000, mostly from Chia, 62, to advance the business interests of 19-ANC and 19-NS2 with AMKTC.

The dealings allegedly happened between December 2014 and September 2016, when the two companies won town council tenders and contracts worth millions of dollars, including for the supply of incense burners.

Chia is also the director 19-ANC, together with his brother. 19-ANC was named after the former Apollo Night Club which was on the 19th storey of a building, while 19-NS2 was named after the address of an engineering firm, which was located on the second floor of the Northstar commercial building in Ang Mo Kio. Both companies deal with general building, repairs and redecoration works.

When Deputy Public Prosecutor Jiang Ke-Yue read out Chia's earlier statement to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau that the debit card bills would be paid for from proceeds of selling scrap metal, Mr Tay flatly denied it.

The court also heard on Friday that between 2015 and 2016, Chia entertained Wong at restaurants, spas and karaoke joints such as Imperial Restaurant, Spa-1, Great Shanghai Entertainment and Superstar KTV.

A flower chit was also found in the cash flow records, which had the aliases of some singers such as Peggy, S66 and S17. Mr Tay explained that the chit likely indicated expenses from the act of hanging garlands on the hostesses.

The trial continues on Monday.