SINGAPORE - A former Land Transport Authority (LTA) officer appeared in a district court on Tuesday (Dec 7) for allegedly retaining work-related documents on his personal laptop after he left the organisation. Benny Tan Yong Liang, 34, who used to work as an assistant environmental manager at LTA, has been charged with an offence under the Official Secrets Act. He accused of retaining the documents between Nov 20 last year and March 8, even though he had no right to do so. Court documents did not provide details about the work documents or state when he left the LTA. The Singaporean's case has been adjourned to Jan 4 next year. If convicted of the offence, he can be jailed for up to six months and fined up to $1,000. More on this topic Related Story Woman who leaked number of daily Covid-19 cases last year fined $10,000 Related Story NLB deputy director charged under OSA with leaking details of phase 2 reopening
SINGAPORE - A former Land Transport Authority (LTA) deputy group director was on Thursday (Sept 2) sentenced to 5½ years' jail for taking about $1.24 million in bribes in the form of loans from contractors and sub-contractors. Henry Foo Yung Thye, 47, who chalked up debts from his gambling addiction, was also ordered to pay a penalty of $1,156,260. He had earlier pleaded guilty to seven counts of corruption. Another 29 charges, including cheating offences, were taken into consideration for sentencing. District judge Jennifer Marie said during sentencing that Foo had persistently asked contractors and sub-contractors for loans, and the bribes involved in the proceeded charges are more than $100,000 for each offence. The judge added that his gambling disorder has limited mitigating weight as he had others ways of settling his debt. Foo's offences came to light in October 2018, when the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau received an anonymous complaint that Foo had been soliciting loans from LTA subcontractors. For corruption, Foo could have been fined up to $100,000 and jailed for up to five years for each offence. 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. More on this topic Related Story 8 months' jail for 2 men who bribed LTA director Related Story Ex-PUB officer charged with accepting around $45,000 in bribes and falsifying invoices
SINGAPORE - Former Mediacorp artiste Shane Pow Xun Ping, 30, intends to plead guilty to his drink-driving charge, a district court heard on Thursday (June 3). He will be back in court on July 14 to admit to the offence. This will be his second drink-driving conviction. In 2014, he was fined and disqualified from driving after he was convicted of a similar offence. Details on the fine amount and disqualification period were not revealed in court documents. Pow could end up behind bars this time as repeat drink drivers can be jailed for up two years and fined up to $20,000. First-time offenders can be jailed for up to a year and fined up to $10,000. Pow allegedly committed his latest drink-driving offence at around 11.20pm on Sept 17 last year. He is said to have had 49 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath while driving a van along Java Road towards Nicoll Highway that evening. The prescribed limit is 35mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath. Besides this case, Pow has also been in the spotlight in recent months, after he was one of 12 guests in an unlawful gathering at veteran actor Terence Cao Guohui's home amid the Covid-19 outbreak last October. Cao, 53, had hosted the event at his condominium unit in Daisy Road, off Braddell Road, to celebrate his birthday as well as those of Pow and another artiste, Jeffrey Xu Mingjie, 32. Cao was fined $3,500 on May 25 after he pleaded guilty to an offence under the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act. One of the guests, former magazine editor Lance Lim Chee Keong, 50, who had invited four people to the gathering, was fined $3,000 last month for an offence under the same Act. Pow and the 10 other guests had earlier been fined $300 in lieu of being prosecuted due to their lower level of culpability. Six of them were artistes Julie Tan Shaoyin, 29; Sonia Nicola Chew, 30; Dawn Yeoh Yishan, 34; Jeremy Chan Ming Yuew, 39; Heng Tee Kok, 45 and Xu. The four other guests were managers Tan Jun Chuan, 30, Debbie Lu Shuyi, 33, and Eleanor Wang Chunwei, 34; as well as part-time model Valnice Yek Jia Hui, 22. The event received flak on social media after pictures of the unmasked group went viral online. The celebrities have since apologised via Mediacorp, saying they "deeply regret" their actions. Mediacorp terminated Pow's contract following these incidents. More on this topic Related Story Shane Pow breaks silence with apology after Mediacorp termination Related Story Actor Shane Pow resurfaces online to sell beauty products