SINGAPORE: A Singapore Airlines (SIA) Engineering Company engineering supervisor made successful bids to maintain and repair aircraft for his employer as an external contractor.
Leong Siew Pui, 69, made the bids in the name of Aittix Engineering, an acquaintance's company, in which he did not hold any position.
He did not declare this arrangement to SIA Engineering Company, thus deceiving his employer about the source of the services provided.
Leong pleaded guilty on Tuesday (Jan 28) to three charges of cheating SIA Engineering Company, which provides maintenance services for the fleet of Singapore's flag carrier.
Three similar charges will be taken into consideration when he is sentenced on Feb 18.
Leong's lawyer Gino Hardial Singh of Abbots Chambers argued that this was not a typical case where a company is cheated because no works or shoddy works are performed.
He said there were no complaints about Leong's work on SIA Engineering Company's engine test cell, which is used to test the performance of aircraft engines.
In respect of works Leong performed in 2017, which formed one of the proceeded charges, the prosecution also said there was no evidence the works were defective.
District Judge Eugene Teo said Leong had, in a misguided manner, committed the offences "because he thought he knew better".
In 2009, Leong came up with an idea to provide maintenance and repair services for SIA Engineering Company as an external contractor after he retired.
In the course of his work as an engineering supervisor, he had observed that external contractors often needed two to three days for maintenance inspections, but he could not allow them this time due to operational constraints.
He felt he was better placed to perform the maintenance and repair works than external contractors, because he knew exactly when he could schedule the works.
Around Chinese New Year that year, he spoke to Mr Alex Tan Han Wen, the owner of Aittix, which provided printing trading services at the time.
Leong asked Mr Tan if he could use Aittix to bid for contracts in an open tender of SIA Engineering Company.
Mr Tan had no experience doing maintenance works, but he agreed as he felt Aittix would benefit from having reputable clients like SIA Engineering Company.
That year, Aittix won an open tender to be a vendor of SIA Engineering Company. The company went on to award Aittix a series of contracts from 2014 to 2017.
As a result, Aittix issued SIA Engineering Company a total of 43 invoices over this period.
Leong provided all the invoiced services instead of Aittix, except for two invoices to repair sound absorbing panels. He claimed to have intended to perform these works at a later stage.
Investigations were unable to confirm if Leong used confidential information to make the successful bids.
Leong therefore dishonestly induced SIA Engineering Company to pay Aittix S$382,517 across all six charges.
The offences were discovered when the police received information about a suspected case of fraud in January 2019.
Leong earned a profit of S$63,737 (US$47,100) from the arrangement, which has been surrendered to the police. He also fully restituted the sum of S$38,984 for the two invoices for work that was not done.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Jason Chua sought nine months to 11 months in jail.
"While there is no evidence that the works done by the accused were defective or unsatisfactory, the accused made wrongful gain in the form of secret profits," he argued.
Mr Chua also said that Leong's offences involved premeditation and took place over a long period.
Defence lawyer Mr Singh asked for five months' imprisonment, pointing to Leong's remorse in his plea of guilt, and his voluntary disgorgement and restitution of the money.
He said that Leong now earned his income as a Grab driver and doing odd manual jobs.
At the time of the offences, Leong had been with SIA Engineering Company for almost two decades.
"Leong does not take any risks or shortcuts when it comes to the inspection and maintenance of aircraft engines," he said, adding that his client "has never compromised on safety".
Mr Singh also said that as an engineering supervisor, Leong was entrusted with managing the operations of the engine test cell, and had only two full-time staff.
"He was placed under immense pressure from his employers and his repeated pleas for SIA Engineering Company to employ more staff fell on deaf ears," the lawyer said.
According to the defence, Leong engaged Aittix to bring in more workers to circumvent manpower regulations on overtime and working hours.
He also employed one full-time worker under Aittix who would be permanently stationed at the test cell to attend to the increased workload and demand, said Mr Singh.
The lawyer also argued that Aittix participated in quotation exercises and offered work at a competitive price, and that the works done were never flagged in audits.
The penalty for cheating is a jail term of up to three years, a fine, or both.
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Leong Siew Pui, 69, made the bids in the name of Aittix Engineering, an acquaintance's company, in which he did not hold any position.
He did not declare this arrangement to SIA Engineering Company, thus deceiving his employer about the source of the services provided.
Leong pleaded guilty on Tuesday (Jan 28) to three charges of cheating SIA Engineering Company, which provides maintenance services for the fleet of Singapore's flag carrier.
Three similar charges will be taken into consideration when he is sentenced on Feb 18.
Leong's lawyer Gino Hardial Singh of Abbots Chambers argued that this was not a typical case where a company is cheated because no works or shoddy works are performed.
He said there were no complaints about Leong's work on SIA Engineering Company's engine test cell, which is used to test the performance of aircraft engines.
In respect of works Leong performed in 2017, which formed one of the proceeded charges, the prosecution also said there was no evidence the works were defective.
District Judge Eugene Teo said Leong had, in a misguided manner, committed the offences "because he thought he knew better".
RETIREMENT PLAN
In 2009, Leong came up with an idea to provide maintenance and repair services for SIA Engineering Company as an external contractor after he retired.
In the course of his work as an engineering supervisor, he had observed that external contractors often needed two to three days for maintenance inspections, but he could not allow them this time due to operational constraints.
He felt he was better placed to perform the maintenance and repair works than external contractors, because he knew exactly when he could schedule the works.
Around Chinese New Year that year, he spoke to Mr Alex Tan Han Wen, the owner of Aittix, which provided printing trading services at the time.
Leong asked Mr Tan if he could use Aittix to bid for contracts in an open tender of SIA Engineering Company.
Mr Tan had no experience doing maintenance works, but he agreed as he felt Aittix would benefit from having reputable clients like SIA Engineering Company.
That year, Aittix won an open tender to be a vendor of SIA Engineering Company. The company went on to award Aittix a series of contracts from 2014 to 2017.
As a result, Aittix issued SIA Engineering Company a total of 43 invoices over this period.
Leong provided all the invoiced services instead of Aittix, except for two invoices to repair sound absorbing panels. He claimed to have intended to perform these works at a later stage.
Investigations were unable to confirm if Leong used confidential information to make the successful bids.
Leong therefore dishonestly induced SIA Engineering Company to pay Aittix S$382,517 across all six charges.
The offences were discovered when the police received information about a suspected case of fraud in January 2019.
Leong earned a profit of S$63,737 (US$47,100) from the arrangement, which has been surrendered to the police. He also fully restituted the sum of S$38,984 for the two invoices for work that was not done.
ARGUMENTS ON SENTENCE
Deputy Public Prosecutor Jason Chua sought nine months to 11 months in jail.
"While there is no evidence that the works done by the accused were defective or unsatisfactory, the accused made wrongful gain in the form of secret profits," he argued.
Mr Chua also said that Leong's offences involved premeditation and took place over a long period.
Defence lawyer Mr Singh asked for five months' imprisonment, pointing to Leong's remorse in his plea of guilt, and his voluntary disgorgement and restitution of the money.
He said that Leong now earned his income as a Grab driver and doing odd manual jobs.
At the time of the offences, Leong had been with SIA Engineering Company for almost two decades.
"Leong does not take any risks or shortcuts when it comes to the inspection and maintenance of aircraft engines," he said, adding that his client "has never compromised on safety".
Mr Singh also said that as an engineering supervisor, Leong was entrusted with managing the operations of the engine test cell, and had only two full-time staff.
"He was placed under immense pressure from his employers and his repeated pleas for SIA Engineering Company to employ more staff fell on deaf ears," the lawyer said.
According to the defence, Leong engaged Aittix to bring in more workers to circumvent manpower regulations on overtime and working hours.
He also employed one full-time worker under Aittix who would be permanently stationed at the test cell to attend to the increased workload and demand, said Mr Singh.
The lawyer also argued that Aittix participated in quotation exercises and offered work at a competitive price, and that the works done were never flagged in audits.
The penalty for cheating is a jail term of up to three years, a fine, or both.
Continue reading...