Former River Valley High School principal starts jail term
Former River Valley High School (RVHS) principal Koh Yong Chiah, 61, who lied about an affair with a vendor to whom he awarded millions in school contracts, started serving his four-week jail term.
He lost his appeal against his sentence yesterday.
A High Court panel of three judges found that the case justified a custodial term as appreciable harm was caused by Koh's offence even though there was no finding of actual corruption or misuse of public funds.
In delivering the judgment, Judge of Appeal Chao Hick Tin said: "By concealing his affair with Ivy (Loke Wai Lin) and passively maintaining the falsehood, the appellant was allowed to undermine the integrity of the procurement process and confidence in the public service, especially since the conflict of interest went undetected for a long time."
The court, which included Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon and Judicial Commissioner See Kee Oon, noted that Koh did not retract his false statement, in effect continuously asserting the falsehood.
He had admitted giving false information to Ms Chia Ban Tin, an officer from the Ministry of Education on Nov 24, 2005, that he was not having an affair with the vendor.
Koh was then principal of Jurong Junior College. He became head of RVHS in 2009.
Koh and Ms Loke, now 55, met in 2000 while he was the principal of The Chinese High School (CHS).
Their first sexual encounter was during a CHS community service trip to China in 2001. Both were married.
- The Straits Times Online
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