Jail for man who gave $235k in bribes to a zoo director

Court Correspondent The sole proprietor of a maintenance and renovation company gave bribes totalling more than $235,000 to a director of facilities management at the Singapore Zoological Gardens.

- Shaffiq Alkhatib

The attraction, now known as the Singapore Zoo, was a subsidiary of Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS).

The prosecution said Chong Chee Wai, who owned Katana Engineering at the time of the offences, gave the bribes to Barry Chong Peng Wee, 57, who has since left WRS, now known as the Mandai Wildlife Group.

As a result of the corrupt arrangement, WRS awarded contracts worth nearly $1.93 million to Katana Engineering. Court documents did not disclose details about the works stated in the contracts.

On Aug 27, Chong Chee Wai, a 48-year-old Malaysian with Singapore permanent residency, was sentenced to 14 months' jail after he pleaded guilty to five graft charges involving $142,000.

Fifteen other charges relating to the remaining amount were considered during sentencing. He committed the offences in 2014 and 2015.