This story was printed from channelnewsasia.com TITLE: CPIB assistant director charged with misappropriating S$1.

7m By Claire Huang POSTED: 24 Jul 2013 9:53 AM URL: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/cpib-assistant-director/75444 4.html Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau assistant director Edwin Yeo Seow Hiong h as been charged with misappropriating S$1.7 million. 39-year-old Yeo faces 21 of fences, eight of which are for misappropriation. SINGAPORE: An assistant director of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau ( CPIB) has been charged with 21 offences, including misappropriation and forgery. 39-year-old Edwin Yeo Seow Hiong is accused of eight counts of misappropriation totalling more than S$1.7 million. The head of field research and technical support allegedly misappropriated the m oney intended to be used for the purchase of goods required by the department. Yeo faces one count of forgery. He is also charged with 12 counts under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Oth er Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act. For these 12 charges, he allegedly used some S$241,000 that was deposited into h is bank account for gaming activities at Marina Bay Sands Casino. The offences were allegedly committed between 2008 and September 2012. During the court session, the bespectacled man asked for time to settle his fami ly affairs, as well as make his own representations and prepare for mitigation. He said he does not plan to engage a counsel and also asked for a lower bail amo unt. Yeo said he has been cooperative with authorities and that he is at low flight r isk, so he does not warrant a high bail amount. But the prosecution asked for bail to be fixed at S$500,000, given the seriousne ss of the charges and the court agreed. If he is convicted of misappropriation, Yeo could face life imprisonment and a f ine for every charge. For forgery, one can be jailed up to four years and fined. If found guilty of using benefits from criminal conduct, Yeo faces a maximum of seven years' jail and a S$500,000 fine on each charge. The director of CPIB has accepted responsibility for any lapses or deficiencies which allowed a senior staff's actions to go undetected for four years. Eric Tan said he is deeply sorry that a loss of public funds occurred during his watch. Mr Tan said CPIB will learn from this episode and will strengthen its safeguards and improve its processes to prevent this from happening again.

CPIB said the recommendations made by the independent review panel were accepted by the prime minister and are being implemented by the bureau to strengthen its financial management and controls. CPIB said it does not condone any criminal or improper acts by its officers. In last two decades, there have been two cases involving errant CPIB officers. In 1997, Chan Toh Kai, a senior special investigator with CPIB, was sentenced to one year's jail for cheating. In 2002, Sogamaran Gopal Ramachandran, a senior research officer with CPIB, was jailed two years for corruptly accepting gratification to divulge classified inf ormation about an investigation into two police officers attached to the Intelle ctual Property Rights Branch of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Sin gapore Police Force. - CNA/xq