Chief of protocol at MFA charged with cheating

[pianist]

10 Oct 2013 11:36

SINGAPORE: The Chief of protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) was charged on Thursday with 60 counts of cheating, totalling almost S$89,000.

Sixty-year-old Lim Cheng Hoe faces 56 counts of cheating the ministry and four counts of cheating a government agency called Vital.Org.

Lim is accused of doing so by submitting false expense claims between February 2008 and May 2012.

He allegedly inflated the quantity of pineapple tarts and wines bought and used for official trips and visits.

He claimed more than 10,000 boxes of pineapple tarts but only used about 2,200 boxes. He also claimed 248 bottles of wine but used only 89.

Lim is said to have made claims for items he did not buy, or those that were bought but not used.

Lim's lawyer has asked to make representations.

A pre-trial conference will be held on October 25.

Responding to media queries, MFA said that when it discovered that there was evidence suggesting misconduct, Lim was suspended from all duties and a police report was made.

- CNA/fa

[cfa]

Not his fault , his salary not high enough .

[LionFlyer]

One wonders... at 62, he should have retired with a fat pension. I met someone who has dealt with him before and he also say this was out of character.

[pianist]

Is there still pension scheme going on in the govt sector? I tot all have been scrapped?

[LionFlyer]

Is there still pension scheme going on in the govt sector? I tot all have been scrapped?

It is scrapped and no longer offered to public servants. But when they did that in the late 80s, existing public servants were offered a choice of either retaining their pensions or converting to the CPF scheme. So old timers like him could be on pensions if they did not opt out.

Anyway, many of those who opt for CPF felt they were short changed later. There was even a case a few years ago where a civil servant sued the government to reverse her choice, claiming that she was under 18 when she signed the papers.

[sgd]

quietly and tactically?

One thing I notice that we have very bright and some highly qualified civil servants, but when it comes to stealing anything they make pretty dumb thieves thank goodness.

Don't they know big numbers are dead give aways and raise alarm bells? It never went thru their minds that audits or somebody would question why is there a personal claim and not a PO instead for so many boxes of tarts and wine?

the SLA cheating case also another guy bluff so much money then go buy lamboghini and drive around let all the colleagues see, logically people will think how much does civil servant earn even if high pay also not possible to buy such a car. Tongues will start wagging and people start digging that's it.

[opmi]

One wonders... at 62, he should have retired with a fat pension. I met someone who has dealt with him before and he also say this was out of character.

Check for the 4 bad habits - 吃喝嫖赌 when men fall.

[Clement]

I served my national service doing procurement and I remember the controls being very tight. Unless other ministries have more lax procurement policies, I am not sure how he managed to do it unless he doctored some receipts or collaborated with the suppliers.

[pianist]

he was the chief of protocol..so probably he called the shot when drafting & approving the protocol plus probably not much audit check in govt sector?

[sgd]

procurement should be out of scope for chief of protocol, there should be a procurement team as clement says to handle such things where he can plan and direct them to buy.

I know the more one is higher up in the government the more frequent scrutiny and checks being subjected to. So If being questioned how will he prove there's no bribery involve since when he makes a claim means this already bypasses going thru his procurement team. So nobody in such position will want to risk doing this in first place because something like this can burst a career. As opmi say one of the motive could be 吃喝嫖赌