A businessman was sentenced Friday to four months’ jail and fined S$180,000 for giving bribes worth about S$2.39 million to a food services manager of Ikano, the local franchisee of Inter Ikea Systems B.V. which operates Ikea in Singapore.
44-year-old Andrew Tee Fook Boon had handed out what is believed to be one of the biggest amounts involved in a private corruption case in recent years.
Should he fail to pay the hefty fine, he would have to spend an additional 12 months behind bars.
He pleaded guilty in December, last year, to 12 of 80 charges, with the remaining ones taken into consideration during sentencing.
Tee, who committed the offence between 2003 and 2009, is the sole proprietor of AT35 Services, a firm that used to supply food items to furniture chain, Ikea.
He had worked with an alleged accomplice, Gary Lim Kim Seng, who had introduced him to Chris Leng Kah Poh.
Mr Leng was then the food services manager of Ikano, the local franchisee of Inter Ikea Systems B.V. which operates Ikea in Singapore.
Based on court documents, Tee and Mr Lim gave the bribes to Mr Leng as his reward for favouring them when placing orders for food products for Ikea.
Both Mr Lim and Mr Leng haven’t been charged in court.
However, addressing the court Friday, District Judge Kessler Soh said that Tee’s culpability appears to be “somewhat lower” than that of the two men.
He added that Tee was not “the brain or the prime mover” of the payments to Mr Leng.
There was also no evidence that Tee had corrupted anyone through his involvement in the case, said Judge Soh.
