TWO former directors of Starburst Engineering were charged in court on Friday (Aug 5) for alleged offences involving corruption and the falsification of accounts.

The duo – Yap Tin Foo and Edward Lim Chin Wah – were also previously executive directors of former Catalist-listed Starburst Holdings, which owned Starburst Engineering. Starburst Holdings was delisted after being acquired by mainboard-listed Nordic Group : MR7 0% earlier this year.

The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said in a press statement that Edward Lim allegedly instigated an officer of Starburst Engineering to issue falsified subcontracts to G-Cube Engineering for works valued around S$500,800 between July and December 2014.

Between September 2014 and August 2015, Yap also allegedly instigated an officer of G-Cube to generate false invoices from GCube to Starburst Engineering to seek payment for works valued at some S$552,200.

Edward Lim and Yap face 3 and 8 charges respectively under the Penal Code for these actions. A person convicted under these charges can be sentenced to imprisonment of up to 10 years, and also be liable to a fine.

The duo were charged alongside 2 other individuals: Tan Keng Liong, who was vice-president (projects) at Jurong Primewide, and Gerald Lim Lee Meng, formerly a vice-president at CPG Consultants.

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Gerald Lim faced a single charge under the Official Secrets Act for allegedly providing information to Yap when he was not authorised to do so. If convicted, he faces a fine of up to S$2,000 or imprisonment of up to 2 years.

In 2019, he provided Yap with 2 pieces of paper containing a comparative analysis of the tender bids received for Home Team Tactical Centre Phase 2A and the development planning committee budget. He obtained the information through his position in CPG, which had a contract with the Ministry of Home Affairs involving the construction of the tactical centre.

Meanwhile, CPIB said Yap had allegedly given gratification in the form of entertainment amounting to around S$9,900 to Tan as an inducement for advancing the business interest of Starburst with Jurong Primewide in 2011.

Tan also allegedly accepted some S$4,800 in the form of expenses relating to a trip to China from Yap sometime in 2012.

Both Tan and Yap have been charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

“Singapore adopts a strict zero-tolerance approach towards corruption,” CPIB said, noting that any person who is convicted of a corruption offence can be fined up to S$100,000 or sentenced to imprisonment of up to 5 years or both.