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CNA: Army Captain Jailed 16 Weeks


Vulcann
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A disgrace to himself, his family, his unit and ultimately the SAF...

 

From CNA:

 

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin...1149338/1/.html

 

Army captain jailed 16 weeks

By Alvina Soh | Posted: 26 August 2011 1801 hrs

 

SINGAPORE: An Army captain with a gambling addiction, on Friday was jailed 16 weeks and fined S$40,400 for receiving loans in exchange for providing confidential information about military projects.

 

Phua Poh Sim, 31, who has been suspended on no-pay leave by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), pleaded guilty to two charges of corruptly obtaining gratification in the form of loans, which amounted to more than S$53,000.

 

Three other similar charges were taken into consideration.

 

Phua received the money in mid-2008 from Richard Yow Wah, who was the managing director of Certified Aerospace Singapore.

 

Investigations revealed that Phua had chalked up debts of about S$100,000 after gambling at casinos onboard cruise ships.

 

Phua borrowed from various sources, including from his colleague, Major John Cheong Chee Wai, who later introduced Phua to Yow.

 

Phua told Yow that he was involved in project work with the SAF and he could help Yow's business by sharing information with him.

 

On May 3, 2008, Phua went to Yow's home and passed him a set of documents containing confidential information relating to military projects, which the SAF was keen to purchase.

 

These included information on the new army combat uniform.

 

Phua continued to provide confidential information to Yow in return for loans on various occasions.

 

In mitigation, Phua's lawyer Mr Quek Mong Hua said that Phua had a distinguished record where he was awarded several scholarships and medals for his good service.

 

This included the prestigious SAF overseas merit scholarship.

 

He also came from a family with a military background as his father is a warrant officer and his brother is also a captain in the SAF.

 

In addition, Mr Quek urged the court to consider the nature of the information revealed and said that Phua was mindful to not reveal information that was highly damaging.

 

Mr Quek also noted that Phua was due for a promotion to the rank of Major during the time of the offences and had confessed to his misdeeds voluntarily during his interviews.

 

However, deputy public prosecutor Adrian Ooi said that Phua's offences were a "disgrace to the SAF" and had compromised the public image of Singapore as a corruption-free country.

 

Mr Ooi added that as an officer, Phua was not allowed to take loans in any case.

 

The tall and bespectacled man remained emotionless during sentencing.

 

Phua could have been jailed up to five years and jailed S$100,000 for each charge.

 

- CNA/ck

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(edited)

Must be his pay very low coz MIW said that we must pay people well so that there's no corruption.

 

Like that many folks will be on the take liao and when caught just argue that pay bo gao...[laugh]

 

But seriously if this sa tong was caught during wartime in cahoots with the enemy, what he faced would not be 4 walls for 4 months but the firing squad... [rifle][rifle][rifle]

Edited by Vulcann
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Must be his pay very low coz MIW said that we must pay people well so that there's no corruption.

ya true. SAF pay not high enough, must increase some more.

Otherwise we wont see SAF ppl opt for early reitirement and the next moment join politics

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Must be his pay very low coz MIW said that we must pay people well so that there's no corruption.

 

all animals are equal. but some animals are more equal than others.

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sigh...

 

he was my classmate in pri 2..

 

then same sec sch...

 

why like that....

 

Sorry to hear that he was someone you knew.

 

I am afraid more folks like him will surface in time to come with the two alluring IRs so easy within reach...

 

$$$ gains over morality concerns... [:(]

 

*sigh*

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In mitigation, Phua's lawyer Mr Quek Mong Hua said that Phua had a distinguished record where he was awarded several scholarships and medals for his good service.

 

This included the prestigious SAF overseas merit scholarship.

 

How come only a Captain at age 31 when he is an SAF overseas merit scholar?

Edited by Rb1623m
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Promote fast people complain. Promote slow people question.

 

In mitigation, Phua's lawyer Mr Quek Mong Hua said that Phua had a distinguished record where he was awarded several scholarships and medals for his good service.

 

This included the prestigious SAF overseas merit scholarship.

 

How come only a Captain at age 31 when he is an SAF overseas merit scholar?

 

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In mitigation, Phua's lawyer Mr Quek Mong Hua said that Phua had a distinguished record where he was awarded several scholarships and medals for his good service.

 

This included the prestigious SAF overseas merit scholarship.

 

How come only a Captain at age 31 when he is an SAF overseas merit scholar?

 

Ok lah... he was on the way to being promoted already, if you read the article... how fast do you want?

 

Even if got overseas merit scholarship, there's not enough vacancies up there.

 

I'm curious whether they enforce and how they intend to enforce this "officer not allowed to take loans" rule, mentioned in the article?

 

Some more this guy did not actually take bribe, but just loan - must pay back - really not worth it, man!

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Ok lah... he was on the way to being promoted already, if you read the article... how fast do you want?

 

Even if got overseas merit scholarship, there's not enough vacancies up there.

 

I'm curious whether they enforce and how they intend to enforce this "officer not allowed to take loans" rule, mentioned in the article?

 

Some more this guy did not actually take bribe, but just loan - must pay back - really not worth it, man!

If you dont have a mountain to lean on, even a cup of coffee will also kena

Edited by Falcon1668
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Message to all. Greed can ruin you.

 

"In addition to his jail term, Phua, a former SAF overseas scholarship recipient who went to the Cambridge University, will have to pay SAF $200,00 for failing to complete his bond."

 

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