Jason Chua Aik Leng, a former senior executive director of Wah Loon Engineering, pleaded guilty in court on Sept 29 to abetting the corrupt giving of gratification involving a staff member of the DSO National Laboratories. The case centers on a multi-million-dollar addition and alteration project at 20 Science Park Drive, where court documents state that at least $150,000 in illicit payments changed hands between October 2018 and February 2019.
Chua Pleads Guilty to Corruption Charges Over DSO Project
The legal proceedings against Chua stems from a scheme initiated in or before 2018. According to Deputy Public Prosecutors Eugene Phua and Andrew Chia, Poh Beng San—then an assistant manager of DSO’s facilities management team—allegedly told sub-contractor Alex Lee Yew Huat that DSO was seeking contractors for building work and asked for a token of appreciation if a contractor secured the project. Lee, a supervisor at Fire-Mech, subsequently approached Chua, offering inside information that could help Wah Loon Engineering win the tender in exchange for sub-contracting the fire protection portion to Fire-Mech and providing about 1% of the contract price to someone inside DSO.
After discussions, Chua agreed to the arrangement, and the percentage was later adjusted to 1.2% in April 2018. The main contract was eventually awarded to New Art in September 2018, with Wah Loon Engineering acting as the sub-contractor on a project valued at more than $46 million, including a $31.7 million mechanical and engineering sub-contract.
Did You Know? DSO National Laboratories was corporatised in 1997 as a company limited by guarantee under the Ministry of Defence, operating with the critical mission to develop technological solutions for Singapore’s national security.
Inflated Sub-Contracts and Money Trails Investigated by CPIB
To channel the bribe money, prosecutors detailed how Chua and Lee conspired to sub-contract the project’s fire protection portion to Yuan Li Electrical Engineering at an inflated price of $2,880,000. This figure included a $480,000 mark-up, even though the actual work was handled by Rico Engineering for $2,400,000 without Yuan Li Electrical Engineering undertaking any physical work. Lau How Shing, the director of Yuan Li Electrical Engineering, facilitated the arrangement because 80 per cent of his firm’s work came from Fire-Mech. The $480,000 mark-up was disbursed from Wah Loon Engineering in two tranches of $240,000 each, with Lau keeping $10,000 each time and handing the remainder in cash to Lee.
The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau received a tip-off in February 2023 regarding Poh receiving gratification from contractors, which led to the questioning and subsequent admission of guilt by Chua.
Legal Arguments and Sentencing Expectations
During court submissions, prosecutors sought a sentence of 13 to 15 months for Chua, emphasizing that the offense undermined public confidence in public administration and caused additional injury to society compared to typical private sector corruption. Conversely, defense lawyers Derek Kang and Vickie Tan from Cairnhill Law requested a jail term of no more than five to six months. They argued that Chua was not the initiator of the bribe, had no direct involvement in the corrupt acts between Lee and Poh, and that there was no evidence of sub-par work or harm suffered by DSO. Chua is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct 16, while the legal proceedings for Poh and Lee remain ongoing.
DSO National Laboratories role and Jason Chua sentencing timeline
What is DSO National Laboratories?
DSO describes itself on its website as Singapore’s largest defence research and development organisation, tasked with developing technological solutions for national security under the Ministry of Defence.
What role did Jason Chua play in the scheme?
Chua was the senior executive director and shareholder of Wah Loon Engineering who handled tenders and bids, and he admitted to conspiring to sub-contract work at an inflated price to fund corrupt payments.
When will the sentencing take place?
Chua is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct 16, while the cases involving Poh and Lee are still before the courts.
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