SINGAPORE - Former swimming instructor Ho Yen Teck, who had conspired with two former Singapore Land Authority (SLA) senior executives to cheat the Government of $12 million, was sentenced to 10 years' jail on Friday - becoming the first of eight men involved in the scam to be dealt with by the courts.
Ho had pleaded guilty last month to 21 charges of conspiring with the SLA's former deputy director Koh Seah Wee and former manager Christopher Lim Chai Meng.
Ho had set up seven bogus companies which put up fictitious tenders for goods and maintenance services in the Government's procurement portal, GeBiz, although these were not needed.
The companies - out of 10 in all which were involved in the scam - received $9.8 million from the SLA with Ho allegedly pocketing $200,000. Ho made partial restitution of $59,590.
His lawyer, Mr Jackson Eng, had argued in court that Ho was just a puppet.
Mr Eng reiterated on Friday that Ho played only a minor role. In his client's mitigation plea, Mr Eng said that Ho, who has a young daughter, agreed to be part of the conspiracy due to financial difficulties and medical problems.
In sentencing, District Judge Jasvender Kaur noted that Ho did not receive a substantial share of the money and was a first offender.
But the judge pointed out that Ho had agreed to set up the companies despite knowing that they would be used for fraud.
She reiterated that Ho had "cheated a public institution of what the prosecution described as an astronomically large sum of public funds".
As Ho's role "was not one of a puppet", a deterrent sentence was necessary, the judge said.
Referring to the scam's alleged masterminds, the judge added: "They would not be successful without your participation and active facilitation."
Koh and Lim, who are both in remand, face 372 and 309 charges, respectively.
Their cases have been moved to the Supreme Court following an application by the prosecution.
A similar application was made in 2004 against Chia Teck Leng, the former finance manager of Asia Pacific Breweries, who was accused of cheating several banks of $117 million by creating fictitious and forged documents in the company's name. Chia was subsequently sentenced to 42 years in jail.
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