SINGAPORE: A Singapore diplomat has been charged with inflating the number of pineapple tarts carried on official visits in the latest corruption case to hit the city-state.
Lim Cheng Hoe, former chief of protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, allegedly overbilled authorities by around S$89,000 ($71,100) by overstating the amount of gifts bought for official purposes between 2008 and 2012. He faces 60 charges and could be jailed for up to three years on each, if found guilty.
Singapore, a wealthy Asian finance and trade centre ranked as the world’s fifth least corrupt country by Transparency International, has been embarrassed by a number of recent cases involving senior officials.
Earlier this year, the former head of the civil defence force and a law professor were found guilty of corruptly accepting sexual favours. A former chief of the police’s anti-drugs squad faced similar charges but was acquitted.
Recently, an assistant director of the anti-corruption watchdog was charged with misappropriating S$1.7m.
Reuters
