Graft agency veteran said to have used siphoned-off funds to gamble
By Bryna Singh, The Straits Times, 25 Jul 2013
AS A department head in the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), Edwin Yeo Seow Hiong was entrusted with public funds earmarked to support the agency's war on graft.
But yesterday, the 15-year CPIB veteran appeared in court accused of misappropriating more than $1.7 million from the bureau, among other related offences.
He faces a total of 21 charges: eight for criminal breach of trust as a public servant, one for forging a payment receipt and 12 counts of using the proceeds of his crimes to gamble.
The CPIB said in a statement yesterday that Yeo's ruse was uncovered on Sept 14 last year. He was suspended from duty and interdicted the next day.
The Straits Times understands it was a whistle-blower who alerted the bureau to the case, before it was referred to the police Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) for investigation shortly after.
The court heard that Yeo - who headed the bureau's field research and technical support branch - had between 2008 and last year, siphoned off funds meant for CPIB operations.
The Straits Times understands it was a whistle-blower who alerted the bureau to the case, before it was referred to the police Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) for investigation shortly after.
The court heard that Yeo - who headed the bureau's field research and technical support branch - had between 2008 and last year, siphoned off funds meant for CPIB operations.
He also misappropriated two Honda Civics and two motorcycles belonging to the anti-graft agency, and forged a receipt that claimed a payment of $370,755 had been received by a supplier when this was not the case.
Yeo, 39, was said to have gambled away more than $240,000 of the money he had siphoned off, at the casino in Marina Bay Sands between last May and September.
It was not clear what the rest of the funds went into but prosecutors told the court that of the $1.7 million Yeo misappropriated, $67,000 had been recovered.
Speaking from the dock yesterday, Yeo told the court that he did not intend to engage a defence lawyer and asked for an adjournment of eight to 10 weeks to "settle family problems".
He also said the CAD had served him the charges only on Tuesday. "I need some time to prepare my representations and mitigation plea," he added.
The judge agreed but called for Yeo's passport to be impounded before he was released on bail of $500,000 in the afternoon.
The case will be heard again on Aug 21.
Commenting after the case was heard in court, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, who is in charge of the civil service, said: "This case is particularly serious because it involved a senior officer in the CPIB, which is entrusted with the mission of maintaining the integrity of the system."
Commenting after the case was heard in court, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, who is in charge of the civil service, said: "This case is particularly serious because it involved a senior officer in the CPIB, which is entrusted with the mission of maintaining the integrity of the system."
CPIB director Eric Tan yesterday apologised in a statement and said the bureau would learn from the case and strengthen its safeguards.
Recommendations to prevent a recurrence of such an incident, submitted by an independent review panel appointed by the Prime Minister, are also being implemented, said the Prime Minister's Office.
1 in 5 of CPIB cases involves public officers
By Bryna Singh, The Straits Times, 25 Jul 2013
By Bryna Singh, The Straits Times, 25 Jul 2013
THE Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) conducts an average of 39 graft probes involving public officers each year.
These make up about one in five of all CPIB cases, said Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean.
His comments came in a statement released by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) yesterday, shortly after CPIB assistant director Edwin Yeo Seow Hiong was charged in court with misappropriating more than $1.7 million from the bureau, among other offences.
The case was handled by the police Commercial Affairs Department (CAD), which primarily investigates white collar crimes.
DPM Teo said that earlier this year, CAD and the anti-graft agency were asked to conduct a study of public officers they investigated for corruption and financial crimes over the last five years, "to see whether there was any change in their number or profile".
"About two-thirds of the investigations involving public officers led to prosecution or disciplinary proceedings," he added.
While DPM Teo noted that the number of cases involving public officers has remained "low and quite stable" over the last five years, Yeo's case was particularly serious because it involved a senior CPIB officer.
"Public institutions and public officers are held to the highest standards of integrity and conduct," he said.
"It is vital to have in place systems and practices to ensure integrity in the public service."
Also weighing in on the case yesterday was Law and Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam, who said that "the allegations (against Yeo) if true, are deeply disturbing and disappointing".
"I think every time you get this, you need to deal with it decisively and firmly," he told reporters on the sidelines of this year's Singapore Law Week at the Supreme Court.
"What we need to do is always be vigilant, be on top of it, and make sure these are the exceptions and they don't become the norm."
There have been two previous cases involving errant CPIB officers in the last two decades.
In 1997, Chan Toh Kai, a senior special investigator, was jailed for a year for cheating a businessman.
In 2002, Sogamaran Gopal Ramachandran, a senior research officer, was jailed two years after he leaked information to corrupt policemen on how they were being investigated.
DPM Teo said strong measures will be taken to tighten up processes.
"PMO is examining whether any supervisory lapses may have contributed to this incident. If so, it will take action against the officers responsible."
A silver lining, however, was that many graft probes involving public officers were started after members of the public or fellow officers blew the whistle, he said.
"This suggests a strong culture in Singapore and in the public service which rejects corruption."
GOVT WILL TIGHTEN UP PROCESSES
This case is particularly serious because it involved a senior officer in the CPIB, which is entrusted with the mission of maintaining the integrity of the system... We will take strong measures to tighten up processes. PMO is examining whether any supervisory lapses may have contributed to this incident. If so, it will take action against the officers responsible.
VIGILANCE THE KEY
Inevitably with human nature, you will have people who succumb to temptation, who do things they aren’t supposed to do – whether in the civil service, banks, law firms or in institutions – despite having the best controls. What we need to do is always be vigilant, be on top of it, and make sure these are the exceptions and they don’t become the norm.
– Law and Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam
Yeo allegedly started by taking $1,200 from CPIB
Officer then allegedly took bigger sums each year, rising to $1.2m last year
By Bryna Singh, The Straits Times, 25 Jul 2013
Officer then allegedly took bigger sums each year, rising to $1.2m last year
By Bryna Singh, The Straits Times, 25 Jul 2013
IT ALL started with $1,200 from the coffers of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB).
Apparently when Edwin Yeo Seow Hiong allegedly took the money in 2008, no one noticed. That only made the CPIB officer more brazen.
The sums he allegedly misappropriated ballooned from year to year - from $95,000 in 2009, to $106,000 the next year, and $320,000 in 2011. Last year, he allegedly siphoned about $1.2 million.
The total came to more than $1.7 million, a sum he was yesterday charged with misappropriating from the anti-graft agency.
The 39-year-old was caught after someone within the bureau blew the whistle on him.
When he was released on $500,000 court bail and left the Subordinate Courts at about 7pm yesterday, he was heard saying "game over, game over" as photographers snapped his picture.
Yeo faces 21 charges in total, with the misappropriation of the money forming the first eight.
The 15-year CPIB veteran is also accused of one count of forgery, and 12 counts of using the fruits of his crime to gamble.
The CPIB said in a statement yesterday that it was alerted to the case on Sept 14 last year. Following preliminary investigations, he was suspended from duty and interdicted the next day.
The matter was handed over to the Commercial Affairs Department for an "independent, impartial and thorough" investigation to be conducted.
The bureau's statement added that Yeo had "circumvented" Civil Service rules meant to ensure financial accountability and propriety, which included filing annual declarations regarding one's financial liabilities.
CPIB director Eric Tan yesterday said he was "deeply sorry" for the loss of public funds as a result of Yeo's actions. "As the most senior officer in the agency, I accept responsibility for any lapses or deficiencies which allowed a senior staff's actions to go undetected for four years."
He promised that CPIB would strengthen its safeguards and improve its processes to prevent a repeat. "CPIB will learn from this," he added.
When Yeo first siphoned the $1,200 in 2008, he was heading the bureau's field research and technical support branch.
By 2011 - a year after receiving the Pingat Kepujian (Commendation Medal) from the Prime Minister's Office - he was emboldened to misappropriate more than $320,000. The amount was "intended to be used for the purchase of goods and services required" by his branch for its operations, court papers said.
He also apparently forged a payment receipt sometime in March 2011 to make it seem as though an equipment supplier had received $370,755 from the CPIB, when in fact, no such payment was received.
Last year allegedly brought Yeo his biggest illegal haul - $1.2 million.
Part of this came from the misappropriation of four CPIB vehicles that had been entrusted into his care: two Honda Civics, a Honda Hornet 250cc motorcycle, and a larger 900cc bike of the same make.
These were valued at $46,676.
The same year, Yeo was said to have frequented the casino at Marina Bay Sands, where he allegedly gambled away more than $240,000 of his ill-gotten gains between last May and September.
During this period, he withdrew sums ranging from $6,950 to $45,550 from his POSBank account.
His case will be heard again on Aug 21. Yeo may be jailed for life, or given a jail term of up to 20 years, and a fine if he is convicted of criminal breach of trust as a public servant.
The same year, Yeo was said to have frequented the casino at Marina Bay Sands, where he allegedly gambled away more than $240,000 of his ill-gotten gains between last May and September.
During this period, he withdrew sums ranging from $6,950 to $45,550 from his POSBank account.
His case will be heard again on Aug 21. Yeo may be jailed for life, or given a jail term of up to 20 years, and a fine if he is convicted of criminal breach of trust as a public servant.
* Anti-graft officer gets 10 years' jail
By Elena Chong, The Straits Times, 21 Feb 2014
By Elena Chong, The Straits Times, 21 Feb 2014
HE WAS a senior anti-graft officer in an organisation dedicated to fighting corruption in Singapore, yet he ended up embezzling $1.76 million and using part of it to feed his gambling habit.
Yesterday, Edwin Yeo Seow Hiong paid a hefty price for his crimes when he was jailed for 10 years.
He admitted three charges of criminal breach of trust and one of forging a receipt for more than $370,000. Sixteen other charges were considered.
Almost half of the money was gambled away, the court heard.
The former assistant director of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) lost more than $479,000 at Singapore's casinos over two years and another $260,000 through betting with Singapore Pools.
In fact, Yeo visited Marina Bay Sands 220 times and Resorts World Sentosa on 152 occasions between 2010 and 2012.
As head of CPIB's Field Research and Technical Support (FRTS), he was responsible for funds released to pay monthly operational and ad-hoc expenses, such as goods and services.
He was often issued cash cheques and applied for an Internet banking account allowing him to access funds meant for the FRTS between 2009 and 2012.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Navin Thevar said Yeo covered up these offences by "rolling-over" - paying off earlier expenses with new funds meant for FRTS.
He also asked his staff to persuade various vendors to accept delayed payments of the sums owed to them.
After noticing that several expenses had not been paid for, the CPIB lodged a report with the Commercial Affairs Department in October 2012, accusing Yeo of embezzling the money. He has since been suspended on half-pay.
In mitigation, Yeo's lawyer Tan Hee Joek said that his client had been involved in several high-profile cases. "He turned to gambling to relieve the strain and stress he was labouring under," he said.
But the DPP countered that Yeo had engaged in "egregious abuse" of his position as a senior law enforcement officer and his offences were deliberate, carefuly concealed and hard to detect.
His actions were "detrimental to public confidence in the integrity of Singapore's public service", he added.
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