Ex-inspection officer at BCA charged with accepting $600 bribe for showing leniency

SINGAPORE – A former inspection officer of the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) has been charged with accepting a $600 bribe from a construction company in exchange for showing leniency during an inspection.

Tan Ming Lie, a 32-year-old Singaporean, was handed two counts of corruption on Friday (Aug 27).

Court documents state that Tan, a temporary worker at BCA, had allegedly taken the bribe in November last year from one Goh Tock Tan, the general manager of Domain Trading & Construction.

Domain was then managing a construction site located at 69 Begonia Drive in the Yio Chu Kang area.

The alleged bribe, which sought to induce Tan to “not show disfavour” in a BCA inspection at the site, took the form of payment for consultancy services provided to Domain.

At around the same time, Tan allegedly tried to obtain bribes from a project manager of construction company Sin Hock Keong in exchange for the same benefit.

The project manager rejected his request and reported the matter to BCA.

A BCA spokesman told The Straits Times that Tan worked there for about two months and was dismissed from his post after an internal investigation.

The matter was subsequently referred to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB).

“As the matter is now before the courts, we are unable to comment further,” the spokesman said.

In a statement on Friday, CPIB said it adopts a “strict zero-tolerance approach” towards corruption, adding that all corruption complaints and reports are looked into, including anonymous ones.

If convicted of corruption, Tan can be fined up to $100,000 or jailed for up to five years, or both.

If the offence is related to a matter or contract with the Government or a public body, the maximum jail term for each offence can be increased to seven years.