SINGAPORE: A director of a plant nursery was on Friday (Mar 22) found guilty of giving the director of a landscaping company S$143,000 in bribes over a few years in exchange for more business.
Loo Nee Soon, 62, had claimed trial to eight charges of corruption, and was convicted on Friday of all eight.
AdvertisementHe had given eight cash cheques of between S$10,000 and S$30,000 to Geow Chwee Hiam, director of Island Landscape & Nursery, between November 2008 and December 2010.
Loo's firm, Sinflora, was one of Island Landscape's plant suppliers and Loo wanted more business from Geow, the court heard.
The prosecution had argued during the trial that between 2008 and 2010, when the bribes were given, sales from Sinflora to Island Landscape averaged about S$373,000 a year, higher than the average yearly sales of about S$215,000 from 2003 and 2007.
Geow approached Loo for money around Chinese New Year, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Alan Loh, as Island Landscape bought large amounts of Chinese New Year plants from Sinflora.
AdvertisementAdvertisementLoo, who was represented by defence lawyer Wendell Wong, denied any corrupt intent in the exchanging of money, which the defence said was a loan to Geow as the two men were "long-time family friends".
The defence claimed that Geow had asked Loo for loans "because of his numerous medical conditions".
However, the prosecution had argued that they were not close friends, as Loo had said in his statements to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) that he did not know how many children Geow had or "anything about his parents".
District Judge Kessler Soh said he drew inference from Loo's decision not to testify during the trial, and found that the prosecution had proven the charges beyond reasonable doubt.
Loo will be back in court for sentencing on Apr 5. For each count of bribery, he could be sentenced to a maximum of five years' jail, a fine of up to S$100,000, or both.
Geow was sentenced to eight months' jail in 2016 after pleading guilty. The S$143,000 was forfeited to the state.
Geow had been hauled up in 2011 after CPIB received a tip-off that he had been taking bribes.
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