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Former chief of protocol at MFA charged with cheating
SINGAPORE: The former chief of protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) was charged on Thursday with 60 counts of cheating, totalling almost S$89,000.
Sixty-year-old Lim Cheng Hoe faces 56 counts of cheating the ministry and four counts of cheating a government agency called Vital.Org.
Lim is accused of doing so by submitting false expense claims between February 2008 and May 2012.
He allegedly inflated the quantity of pineapple tarts and wines bought and used for official trips and visits.
He claimed more than 10,000 boxes of pineapple tarts but only used about 2,200 boxes. He also claimed 248 bottles of wine but used only 89.
Lim is said to have made claims for items he did not buy, or those that were bought but not used.
Lim's lawyer has asked to make representations.
A pre-trial conference will be held on October 25.
Responding to media queries, MFA said that when it discovered that there was evidence suggesting misconduct, Lim was suspended from all duties and a police report was made. - CNA/fa
Case against former MFA protocol chief set for second pre-trial conference in November
Published on Oct 25, 2013
The case against Lim Cheng Hoe (above), who was chief of protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), will be heard again during a second pre-trial conference set for Nov 22. -- ST FILE PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN
By Walter Sim
The case against Lim Cheng Hoe, who was chief of protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), will be heard again during a second pre-trial conference set for Nov 22.
Lim, 60, was charged earlier this month with falsifying expense claims of almost $89,000 purportedly for wine and pineapple tarts meant for as gifts for foreign diplomats or delegates.
The adjournment on Friday is for the defence to make further representations, said Lim's lawyer Nicklaus Tan from Harry Elias Partnership. Mr Tan added that Lim is still taking instructions and has yet to claim trial.
Lim allegedly cheated the ministry and a separate government unit by falsifying receipts, and by using genuine receipts but with inflated claims of the number of items used for official purposes to cover up his ruse.
In all, he claimed for 10,075 boxes of pineapple tarts and 248 bottles of wine. But only 2,226 boxes of the tarts and 89 bottles of wine were actually used.
Updated: 01/09/2014 11:33 | By Channel NewsAsia
Suspended MFA protocol chief indicates will plead guilty to cheating
SINGAPORE: Suspended chief of protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Lim Cheng Hoe has indicated he will plead guilty to cheating the government, following a pre-trial conference on Thursday between the prosecution and defence.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Kelvin Kow said a date for Lim's plea to be taken has been fixed for February 17, and lawyers will meet again on January 29.
Lim, 60, was charged in court last October with cheating the government of nearly S$89,000.
He faces 60 counts of cheating -- 56 counts of cheating the ministry and four of cheating a government agency called Vital.Org.
Lim allegedly cheated by overstating expense claims for boxes of pineapple tarts and bottles of wine, which were bought as gifts for official trips and visits.
Between February 2008 and May 2012, he allegedly made claims for more than 10,000 boxes of pineapple tarts when only 2,200 boxes were used.
Lim is also accused of making claims for 248 bottles of wine, but used only 89.
For example, for an official trip in May 2012, he allegedly made claims for 10 bottles of wine valued at S$2,000, when he used only six bottles valued at S$1,200, and cheated the ministry of the difference.
Investigations into Lim by the Commercial Affairs Department began in June 2012.
Lim, who was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 2009, has spent nearly 40 years at MFA, with 10 of those years as chief of protocol. - CNA/nd
Ex-MFA protocol chief pleads guilty to falsifying claims
SINGAPORE: The former chief of protocol with the Foreign Affairs Ministry has been convicted of 10 counts of falsifying claims involving the purchase of pineapple tarts and bottles of wine amounting to about S$35,000.
Lim Cheng Hoe also admitted to 50 counts of cheating totalling some S$54,000, which would be taken into consideration for sentencing purposes.
The 61-year-old had submitted false expense claims between February 2008 and May 2012.
He made claims for more than 10,000 boxes of pineapple tarts when only 2,200 boxes were used as gifts to foreign officials.
For some of the claims, Lim did not buy or use any of the pineapple tarts as gifts to foreign officials during his official overseas trips.
Lim became familiar with the shopkeepers selling the pineapple tarts and had asked them for blank receipts which he filled up himself.
The shopkeepers acceded to his request as they thought Lim had felt that their handwriting was not clear.
As for the bottles of wine, Lim used genuine receipts but he purchased more bottles than he had planned to bring on his official overseas trips.
He made claims for 248 bottles of wine but had bought only 89.
In its submissions, the prosecution called for a sentence of 18 months, stating several aggravating factors.
Prosecutor Kelvin Kow said Lim's actions have not only "offended the sensibilities of the public" but also cast a negative light on public servants.
He said while Lim has made full restitution, he has brought disrepute to the ministry.
Mr Kow stressed that Lim made false claims 60 times over a prolonged period of four years, which indicate his pre-meditation.
But defence lawyer Mr Philip Fong argued that Lim had maintained a stellar record at work until now.
He cited glowing testimonies from Lim's friends and colleagues and added that the country's ties with other nations have not been affected.
Mr Fong also argued that Lim did not commit the offences to profit from them but to overcome "red tape".
He said his client did so in order to "do his job better".
The defence said Lim is diabetic and urged the court to impose a sentence of eight to 10 months.
District Judge Eddy Tham will sentence Lim on Thursday.
The maximum punishment for cheating by inflating claims as a public servant is a 10-year jail term and a fine for each charge. - CNA/xq
Singapore diplomat jailed over false claims for pineapple tarts, wine
AFP
February 21, 2014, 12:21 am
Singapore (AFP) - Singapore on Thursday passed prison sentences on two senior civil servants embroiled in corruption scandals that have dented the government's reputation as one of the least corrupt worldwide.
Lim Cheng Hoe, 61, the former head of protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was sentenced to 15 months in jail for inflating expenses for thousands of dollars' worth of pineapple tarts and wine bought as gifts for dignitaries.
In a separate case, Edwin Yeo Seow Hiong, 40, an assistant director at the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, was sentenced to ten years in jail for misappropriating Sg$1.76 million ($1.4 million) worth of government funds.
The two men had earlier pleaded guilty.
Several corruption scandals prompted the government last year to introduce new rules in the civil service to further deter graft.
"This case has caused public disquiet as it involved a high-ranking public officer who deceitfully obtained public funds by virtue of his position and the trust reposed in him," district court Judge Eddy Tham said in a written judgement in the case involving senior diplomat Lim.
State prosecutors had initially slapped Lim with 60 charges of overbilling the government for gifts bought for foreign officials during overseas visits, totalling Sg$88,997 (US$70,280).
Lim headed the foreign ministry department responsible for organising ministerial and presidential trips overseas.
According to charge sheets, Lim claimed for more than 10,000 boxes of pineapple tarts, a savoury popular in Singapore, but only 2,200 were used as gifts.
Lim asked vendors for blank receipts and overstated the number of boxes purchased. He also claimed for 248 bottles of wine but only bought 89.
In Yeo's case the judge said the decade-long prison sentence was necessary since he was a law enforcement officer and the court had to "signal the society's moral opprobrium over his offences and deter any like-minded offenders".
Yeo had used the government funds he misappropriated to gamble at a casino.
Last year Peter Lim, the former head of the civil defence force, was jailed for six months for receiving oral sex from a female executive of a defence supplier in return for favours.
Large-scale graft cases remain rare in Singapore, which pays its civil servants some of the world's highest salaries to deter corruption.
The city-state has been ranked by Transparency International and other watchdogs as among the least corrupt nations in the world.
Former MFA protocol chief stripped of public service medals
SINGAPORE: The former chief of protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lim Cheng Hoe has been stripped of the public service medals that he had previously been awarded.
Information published in the Government Gazette on Monday said the President forfeited Lim of the Public Administration Medal (Silver), the Commendation Medal, the Efficiency Medal and the Long Service Medal with effect from 19 March 2014.
Lim was handed a 15-month jail term last month for 10 counts of cheating.
The offences involved falsifying claims involving the purchase of pineapple tarts and wine amounting to about S$35,000.
In sentencing, the judge had said Lim had clearly abused the trust placed in him and brought disrepute to public office. - CNA/ec
