Two men fined for deceiving LTA by welding metal bars on company trailer to pass weight inspection

SINGAPORE — In a ruse to trick the Land Transport Authority (LTA), two former truck drivers came up with a plan to weld metal beams onto the company trailer so that it is heavy enough to be roadworthy.

The duo were fined on Tuesday (March 22) for conspiring to cheat the LTA into believing that the trailers that the men brought in for inspection were within the required weight range, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said in a statement. 

Both men, who were employed by trailer manufacturer Sin Trans Engineering as drivers, had deceived the LTA on 21 occasions between October 2010 and April 2012 into believing that Sin Trans’ trailers were compliant with the approved technical drawings when they were not. 

Loh Yeok Lum, 67, was fined S$17,500, and Chua Cheng Kang, 65, was fined S$15,750 for their actions.

In its statement, CPIB said that all newly manufactured trailers have to pass a registration inspection before they are allowed onto the roads. This process involves weighing the physical trailer to ensure that its unladen weight is within acceptable margins of what is specified in an approved technical drawing.

However, investigations by CPIB revealed that sometime in 2010, Sin Trans’ trailers failed the inspections. The trailers were found to be lighter than what was stated. 

In order to pass the inspection, Loh bought two metal beams, weighing 1,000kg and 300kg, and "arranged" to weld the metal beams onto the trailer to increase its weight to the required range, allowing the trailer to pass the inspection.

Loh would also use this trailer for other Sin Trans inspections and changed its chassis number in order to prevent getting caught. 

Chua, who knew about Loh’s plans, would also help Loh by driving the modified trailer for inspection and witnessing the weighing, the statement said.

After using the method for about six months, Loh started to weigh part of a prime mover together with the underweight trailers in order to pass the inspection, again sharing his plans with Chua.

CPIB said: "As a result of their deception, LTA was induced to issue the approval codes for the registration of Sin Trans’ trailers, which it would not have done so if it was not deceived."

Investigations revealed that Loh also conspired with two JIC inspection officers to cheat the LTA into issuing registration approval codes for Sin Trans trailers on three occasions sometime in February 2014. JIC Inspection Services is one of LTA's authorised inspection centres with weighing facilities.

For this, Loh was convicted of three more charges of cheating. In all, he was guilty of 24 charges, while Chua was convicted of 21 charges.

Anyone convicted of cheating under the Penal Code can be jailed for up to three years and fined. 

CPIB said that it will look into all corruption complaints and reports, including anonymous ones. Those with relevant information may contact CPIB online or call 1800-376-0000.