On 7 August 2025, 58-year-old Koh Kok Liang (“Koh”) was convicted and sentenced to 35 months’ imprisonment for the following offences:
- Two counts under Section 420 read with Section 109 of the Penal Code and amalgamated under Section 124(4) of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010, for abetting by engaging in a conspiracy with another to cheat Hakuto Singapore Pte Ltd (“Hakuto”), and
- One count under Section 44(1)(a) of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act (“CDSA”) and amalgamated under Section 124(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010, for assisting another to retain benefits from criminal conduct.
Another five charges of money laundering and abetting by engaging in a conspiracy to cheat were taken into consideration for the purposes of sentencing.
Background
Sometime in 2018, Hakuto discovered that Kee Boon Ping, Albert (“Albert”), a senior manager in Hakuto’s Sales Department, had allegedly created fictitious purchase orders for programming and baking services on semiconductors from Advantronics Datanet Solution Trading (“ADST”), one of Hakuto’s suppliers in Singapore. Hakuto’s internal regulations required Albert to seek a director’s approval before a purchase order could be issued to suppliers. After a service was performed, the supplier would issue invoices to Hakuto for payment, and the Finance Department would issue payment cheques to the supplier.
Investigations by the Commercial Affairs Department (“CAD”) revealed that sometime before 2015, Albert had conspired with ADST’s sole proprietor, Koh, to cheat Hakuto. Their scheme involved Albert issuing fictitious purchase orders using Hakuto’s letterhead to Koh for programming and baking services- services that both Koh and Albert knew were neither required nor within ADST’s capabilities. Upon receiving these purchase orders, Koh would issue corresponding invoices to Hakuto using ADST’s letterhead to request for payment for services which he knew ADST had not performed. Koh would hand these invoices to Albert, who submitted them to Hakuto’s Finance Department for payment to ADST.
CAD’s investigations established that Koh conspired with Albert to cheat Hakuto. In pursuance of that conspiracy, Hakuto was dishonestly induced to deliver a total of USD 362,323.40 (equivalent to approximately SGD 503,109.05) between 2016 and 2017 via cheques issued to ADST.
After receiving the cheques from Hakuto, Koh would deposit them into ADST’s bank accounts. Once the cheques were cleared, Koh would withdraw the funds before splitting the proceeds with Albert. Between January 2017 and December 2017, Koh handed cash cheques totalling SGD 190,594.27, which was wholly derived from fraudulent payments issued by Hakuto to ADST, to Albert, thereby facilitating Albert’s retention of his benefits from criminal conduct.
Any person who commits an offence under Section 420 read with Section 109 of the Penal Code shall be liable on conviction to a fine and to imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years. Any person who commits an offence under Section 44(1)(a) of the CDSA (or Section 51(1)(a) of the CDSA 1992) shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $500,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or to both.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
07 August 2025 @ 3:30 PM