Ex-employee of firm linked to Hyflux admits to accepting items, including $27k loan, as bribes

A deputy project director at a firm handling construction projects accepted bribes from the managing director of a construction company, and they included a loan of more than $27,000.

Lee Yuet Heng, 74, who was then working for Hydrochem – a wholly owned subsidiary of water treatment firm Hyflux – committed the offences to advance Zhengda Corporation’s business interests with Hydrochem. He has since repaid the loan.

The Singaporean accepted other items, including a plane ticket to Hong Kong, from Zhengda’s boss, Chinese national Li Hongda, 59. Li’s case is still pending.

Lee pleaded guilty to two graft charges on Aug 21.

Hyflux had made the headlines in recent years over unrelated charges involving its founder and former chief executive Olivia Lum Ooi Lin. 

Lum, then 61, was charged with violations of the Securities and Futures Act in November 2022.

For the current case, Deputy Public Prosecutor Suriya Prakash told the court that Hydrochem handled Hyflux’s construction projects.

In 2012, Hydrochem entered into two contracts with Zhengda over the supply of items that included labour, material and equipment for reinforced concrete works.

At the time of the offences, Hydrochem was building a power plant in Tuas and Lee became a deputy project director linked to it in early 2014. He got to know Li soon after.

The DPP said: “While he was still employed at Hydrochem, (Lee told Li Hongda) that his role at Hydrochem was on a contractual basis and that he thought that Hydrochem would no longer employ him after the completion of the power plant project.

“The accused asked Hongda whether there were any vacancies at Zhengda. Hongda told the accused that he required a general manager to run Zhengda’s operations and to attend meetings when he was not around.”

Around mid-2014, they reached an agreement that Zhengda would hire Lee as a general manager after his Hydrochem contract expired.

The court heard that Zhengda had to perform additional work after it completed that relating to the two 2012 contracts.

Lee then told Li that Zhengda could inflate the prices it would charge for this additional work. Li told Zhengda’s contracts manager to liaise with Lee on the matter.

Meanwhile, Lee told a Hydrochem assistant manager to work with the contracts manager in submitting orders with inflated prices to Hydrochem, and to process the inflated orders for approval.

Zhengda then submitted a set of inflated orders in June 2014, but the assistant manager did not submit any of those orders for approval.

Some time in 2014, Li paid for Lee’s air ticket to Hong Kong and settled the payment for the older man’s stay there. Court documents did not disclose their prices.

On or around Sept 11 that year, Li paid out more than $27,000 in loans to Lee.

In April 2015, Hyflux’s management conducted an investigation and found out that the price of a contract involving the repair of a roof had been inflated.

The company terminated Lee’s employment, and he joined Zhengda the following month.

The DPP said that Hyflux did not suffer any losses as a result of the inflated prices. Lee is expected to be sentenced in September.

Source: Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.

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