Ex-Singapore Zoo director jailed 6 years for taking $2.4m in bribes

The former facilities management director at the Singapore Zoological Gardens was sentenced to six years' jail on April 25 after obtaining more than $2.4 million in bribes between 2005 and 2016.

Barry Chong Peng Wee, whom the prosecution described as the "central orchestrator" of the graft offences, was also ordered to pay a penalty of over $2.4 million.

He will spend an additional six years, seven months and 13 days behind bars if he fails to pay the amount.

Chong, 58, who is no longer working for the zoo, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of graft in February.

On April 25, Principal District Judge Toh Han Li noted that Chong was the main receiver of the bribes and that he committed the offences over a long period of time.

The money was from multiple people, including employees of companies that performed works for the gardens, now known as the Singapore Zoo.

Chong used his ill-gotten gains to buy items such as cars, clothes, luxury watches and bags.

At the time, the zoo was a subsidiary of Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS).

Now known as the Mandai Wildlife Group, WRS suffered a loss of more than $2.4 million as a result of inflated invoices submitted under the corrupt arrangements, according to court documents.

The prosecution said Chong's offences were linked to multiple firms, including Shin Yong Construction (SYC), Thiam Lee Tradings Construction, KK Iron Engineering, Katana Engineering, Hong Power Engineering and KKS Engineering.

Each company was awarded jobs worth between $14,300 and over $10.5 million. The court heard that SYC was awarded jobs involving the largest sums of money.

Multiple individuals linked to most of the companies were dealt with in court earlier.

Deputy public prosecutors Kelvin Chong, Shamini Joseph and Darren Sim had stated in court documents that SYC was set up by the late Mr Toh Siang Bee and WRS was its main client.

Some time before 2005, Mr Toh, his son Too Say Kiong, and Chong entered into an arrangement to award WRS jobs to SYC in exchange for "monetary commissions".

When Mr Toh died, another one of his sons, Toh Say Yong, took his place in SYC in 2005.

The two sons and Chong continued to commit graft.

In 2024, Too, then 57, was sentenced to two years and two months' jail, and his elder brother, then 69, was sentenced to a year and 10 months' jail.

Under the corrupt plan, Chong would send the specifications of each project to Too and tell him to bid at a specific price to ensure that SYC secure the contract.

Too would clear with his brother an amount to give to Chong as commission and prepare inflated invoices or quotations at the prices Chong had specified.

The brothers also asked other contractors to submit bids that were slightly higher than SYC's to ensure that WRS award the jobs to the company.

The quotations WRS received were then passed to Chong, who would generally award the jobs to the lowest quotes.

In late 2013 or early 2014, Chong and Too agreed to look for other contractors to take part in the corrupt arrangement.

The prosecution said Too approached representatives from Thiam Lee and Katana, telling them WRS would award jobs to the firms in exchange for money.

Court documents stated that the representatives agreed to be part of the plan.

Some time around 2010 to 2011, Toh Say Yong's son, Toh Yong Soon, started working for SYC. He continued with the corrupt arrangements after taking over the firm's operations from Too in late 2015.

Toh Yong Soon, then 39, was sentenced to three years and three months' jail in May 2024.

On April 25, the prosecution urged the court to sentence Chong to up to six years and six months' jail, adding that his offences were premeditated.

Pleading for a lighter sentence, defence lawyer Mervyn Tan said that his client is "quite advanced in age".

The lawyer also said that Chong will be appealing against his sentence. He was then offered bail of $300,000.