Former president and senior executives of ST Marine charged with corruption

Three former high-ranking staff members of ship builder, Singapore Technologies (ST) Marine were charged in court on Thursday under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) and the Penal Code.

Former ST Marine president, Chang Cheow Teck, 54 faces three charges of corruption involving a total sum of $273,778. He is also being accused of conspiring with his subordinates, Teh Yew Shyan and Ong Teck Liam, 58 between 2004 and 2010.

Chang helmed the company from March 2008 to April 2010 before taking over as the role of President at ST Aerospace and stepping off from the position on 1 July, 2014.

The then-Group Financial Controller and Senior Vice President of Finance Ong Tek Liam, 58 was charged with 118 counts under the Penal Code of making false petty cash claims amounting to over $500,000 in entertainment expenses, when there were none.

Ong held her position from April 2007 to December 2012.

According to the press release sent by ST Enigneering, Mok Kim Whang, 64 the Senior Vice President of Tuas Yard at ST Marine from June 2000 to July 2004, also received one charge under the Prevention of Corruption Act for allegedly conspiring with others to corruptly pay $43,721 to a company in May 2004.

ST Engineering also said in the press release that ST Marine has been cooperating fully with the investigations by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) since 2011.

“ST Engineering is committed to maintaining high standards of corporate governance and recognises that fraud is detrimental to the reputation of the ST Engineering Group…”

“ST Engineering does not condone fraud, including corruption and bribery, and is fully committed to proactively mitigating the risk of its occurrence.”

It added that the charges against the three accused are not expected to impact the earnings per share of the group for the current financial year.