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SINGAPORE: Two former employees of the National University of Singapore (NUS) were charged on Thursday (January 28) in separate cases of fraud and forgery.
Tan Kok Kiong, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at NUS at the time of the crimes, is said to have submitted fraudulent claims worth approximately S $ 100,000 to the school. These crimes are said to have occurred sometime between 2012 and 2019.
Tan is accused of generating false invoices for the alleged purchase of products and services, and of filing claims that were inflated or for expenses not related to his research grant. In doing so, he tricked NUS approval officers into giving him the money, CPIB said.
Tan faces 32 counts of forgery for the purpose of cheating, as well as five counts of cheating and dishonestly inducing the delivery of money.
In an unrelated case, Teh Kok Hiong Thomas, an investigator in the NUS Department of Biomedical Engineering at the time of the crimes, is charged with submitting false claims to the school for approximately S $ 41,100.
The crimes, which occurred between 2010 and 2018, involved falsely claimed purchases for work-related use, as well as travel expenses that they were not entitled to claim. This led to the NUS approval officers being tricked into giving him the money.
Teh faces five counts of forgery for the purpose of cheating and 22 counts of cheating and dishonestly inducing the delivery of money.
If found guilty of the crimes of cheating or forgery, they can be imprisoned for up to 10 years and fined.
“Singapore takes a strict zero tolerance approach towards corruption and other criminal activities such as deception and counterfeiting,” said CPIB.
The agency added that it investigates all allegations and reports of corruption, including anonymous ones.
In response to inquiries from the CNA, NUS said it “takes a firm stand against any form of staff misconduct” and that the two men are no longer employees of the university.
“We cannot comment further because the case is now before the courts,” he added.
