Embezzlement of Public Funds by Five Officers of Ministry of Home Affairs

Mr Hri Kumar Nair asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs in respect of the disciplinary action taken against five officers of the Ministry whose oversight allowed funds to be embezzled at the Ministry, in what manner did the officers fail to discharge their duties and what punishment did each receive.

Mr Teo Chee Hean: Following audits conducted after the 2010 SLA fraud case, facts were uncovered which suggested that an MHA clerical officer, Liew Chee Meng, had committed certain offences related to procurement under his charge. A police report was immediately made. Subsequent investigations by the Commercial Affairs Department resulted in criminal prosecution against Liew. Liew was recently convicted and received a sentence of 104 months.

While police investigations were ongoing, MHA convened an Independent Review Panel to examine the facts and circumstances of the case, and to review control systems. My Ministry has since implemented all the recommendations made by the Review Panel.

The Review Panel highlighted weaknesses in the procurement approval process and financial control systems. More robust supervisory controls should have been in place, and officers responsible for overseeing disbursement of funds for procurement should have been more vigilant.

Based on the findings, MHA took disciplinary action against five officers. Three of them were issued Letters of Warning, namely, Liew's supervisor, a senior staff overseeing financial matters, and a staff overseeing procurement matters. They were also given a poor performance grade and will have their performance bonus cut. The other two junior level officers who processed the various payment requests were issued with Letters of Advice.

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MHA views this case extremely seriously, and has since tightened procurement processes and strengthened internal controls and supervision.