A CONSERVANCY and cleaning services company manager was packed off to jail for 24 months on Tuesday for corruption and employment breaches.
William Koh Wee Gene, 36, pleaded guilty last Monday to seven charges of bribery and five counts under the Employment of Foreign Workers Act.
Koh, manager of Maint-Tech Contractor, faced a total of 43 corruption charges and 22 under the EFWA.
The court heard that he bribed a Ministry of Manpower inspector, Law Boon Seng, by paying him $1,000 a month through another person for information on impending raids by the ministry in 2005 and 2006.
Law, 32, who accepted a total bribe of $24,500 on 21 occasions, was jailed 14 months earlier this year.
Investigation also showed that Koh had bribed a private investigator Louis Raja on two occasions to give to an unknown MOM inspector to help him to quash his case and lift a ban on recruiting foreign workers imposed on Maint-Tech in March 2006. Raja, 46, was jailed five months last week.
Between February and December 2006, Koh had on 19 occasions given bribes to Goh Chiang Heng and Tan Wee Ling totalling $6,750 to take the rap on his behalf in the event of any investigation conducted by MOM on marine firms, Puntax Engineering Services, Pac-System Engineering, Y3A Enterprise, and Valour-Link Services.
But the prosecution only proceeded on one charge each of of $500 and $250 to Goh and Tan respectively.
In the MOM cases, Koh was owner of Y3A when he employed a labourer in the marine industry to work as a conservancy worker in various housing estates.
He abetted his worker, Tan, to register his name as owner of Valour-Link to apply for work permits for two foreign workers. Once approved, these workers were then deployed to work as conservancy workers in breach of their work permit conditions.
