SINGAPORE: A director-general at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has admitted to lying to the ministry over the intended use of diplomatic bags to courier luxury watches for a friend in January 2023.
Gilbert Oh Hin Kwan, 45, pleaded guilty on Friday (Apr 26) to a charge of providing false information to a public servant. He will return to court for sentencing on May 20.
The prosecution is seeking a fine of S$6,000 to S$9,000, while the defence is asking for a fine of less than S$5,000.
The court heard that Oh had agreed to help his friend, Chinese national Ms Jiang Si, bring watches that belonged to her from China to Singapore, where she was living.
On Jan 12, 2023, Oh contacted his colleague Mr Dion Loke Cheng Wang, who was serving at Singapore's embassy in Beijing, over WhatsApp.
Oh lied to Mr Loke that the parents of his friend, whom he said was a Chinese diplomat, wanted to have a package sent to him in Singapore. He asked Mr Loke to send it through MFA's diplomatic bag service.
Diplomatic bags are used to send documents or items for official use. Under the Vienna Convention, diplomatic bags cannot be opened or detained.
In truth, Ms Jiang was not a diplomat. Oh had said she was one as he thought that would make his colleague more likely to agree to his request, Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Pei Wei said.
Oh provided Mr Loke's residential address in Beijing to Ms Jiang and she arranged for a sealed package to be sent.
The package contained 21 luxury watches, a ring and about seven children's books, which all belonged to Ms Jiang and her partner, Mr Liu Liang. Oh was not aware of the number of watches or the exact contents of the package then.
As the diplomatic bag service was suspended at the time, Mr Loke did not use it to convey the package. Instead, he carried it in his luggage on a flight from China to Singapore on Jan 17, 2023.
After landing near midnight, his luggage was screened by Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers. The sealed package was opened, revealing the watches.
Mr Loke told the ICA officers that he had not known what the package contained, that he had received it from a Chinese diplomat, and that he was carrying it back for Oh.
The matter was referred to the police, who interviewed Mr Loke at the airport until the early hours of the morning. MFA was informed of the incident.
On the morning of Jan 19, 2023, MFA's then deputy secretary for management Mr Ong Eng Chuan told Oh to provide a written account of the circumstances in which Mr Loke had brought the package into Singapore.
Oh was concerned about disciplinary action being taken against him as it could impact his career progression, the prosecution said.
"He decided to tell MFA that the watches belonged to his father as he believed that the MFA was more likely to be lenient than if he told the truth," said Ms Tan.
Oh told his father about what he intended to tell MFA.
At about 6.30pm that day, he then sent an email to Mr Ong falsely stating that the watches belonged to his father, and that his father had asked for his help bringing them to Singapore.
This act constituted the offence of lying to a public servant to which Oh pleaded guilty.
Oh knew it was likely that this lie would cause Mr Ong not to look further into the circumstances in which the watches were brought to Singapore, said Ms Tan.
On the same day, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) started investigations into the case and interviewed Oh.
In his first statement to CPIB, given at about midnight on Jan 20, 2023, Oh repeated his lie about his father asking for help to bring the watches to Singapore.
But in his second statement at about 10.30am, he admitted that it was Ms Jiang, and not his father, who had asked for his help.
Oh also admitted to a charge of cheating MFA by concealing that a package of Panadol sent to Mr Loke in Beijing through the diplomatic bag service in December 2022 was actually meant for a personal friend.
This, along with another charge of abetting the cheating of MFA by asking Mr Loke to use a diplomatic bag to convey the luxury watches, was taken into consideration for sentencing.
Gilbert Oh Hin Kwan (left) at the State Courts on Apr 26, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Raydza Rahman)
In seeking a fine, the prosecution said that Oh was motivated by self-interest and had appeared to take steps to bolster his falsehood by speaking to his father first.
He also persisted in his lie in his first statement to CPIB.
She added that Oh's offence did not cause "appreciable harm", as he recanted his false statement about the package within 24 hours.
But Judge Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz questioned the level of potential harm that came from a high-ranking public servant lying to thwart internal investigations, which could undermine public trust in the institution he served.
"Wouldn't this attempt to subvert MFA's internal investigative process carry significant potential harm, especially given the fact that this was no ordinary public servant but a director-general, in his capacity, providing the false information?" she asked.
Ms Tan agreed that such potential harm was relevant to sentencing, but that the short timeline of the incident made it difficult to determine the impact of Oh's actions.
The prosecution considered the fact that the false information provided by Oh was limited to the ownership of the items in the package, and still disclosed wrongdoing by him.
The lie that Oh's father was the owner of the watches would not bring the intended use of the diplomatic bag into alignment with the service's policy, since the items would still not belong to MFA staff, said Ms Tan.
Another consideration was that MFA could also get information from Mr Loke, and if investigations continued, discrepancies in their accounts of the package would have surfaced and diminished Oh's credibility.
This was why the potential harm caused by Oh's offence was limited, said Ms Tan.
In mitigation, defence lawyer Mr Shashi Nathan of Withers KhattarWong stressed Oh's remorse for his actions, his decision to plead guilty at the earliest instance and his full cooperation with authorities.
He also said that Oh was unlikely to reoffend, pointing to the fact that this was his first oversight in more than 17 years of service in MFA.
Oh's offending actions were out of character and motivated by his intentions to "help a friend in need", the defence argued.
Mr Nathan said that Oh used the diplomatic bag to convey Panadol to Beijing in December 2022 because there was a shortage of the medicine in China at the time, and his friend had asked for help for family members.
He also described the impact the case has had on Oh, whom he said had learnt "an extremely bitter and painful lesson".
"More importantly, your honour, his career is over in the diplomatic service. There's no coming back from this," said Mr Nathan. He added that Oh loved his work and had "dedicated his entire life" to the service.
He also pointed to character references made on Oh's behalf, including by former MFA second permanent secretary Bilahari Kausikan, currently chairman of the Middle East Institute.
Oh's offence was out of character for him and did not involve planning or premeditation, Mr Nathan argued.
"I think he didn't really apply his mind," said the lawyer. "He knows it probably was wrong to do it. He did not apply his mind to whether this was something that is really dishonest."
But the prosecution argued that the character references carried little mitigating weight.
Ms Tan said Oh held a high position in MFA and was entrusted with responsibilities, and that would have entailed being held in high regard by his superiors.
Mr Nathan told the court that Oh had submitted his resignation to MFA on Thursday.
However, Oh was informed that under the rules of the public service, his resignation could not be processed while his case was ongoing. There would be separate disciplinary action from MFA, added Mr Nathan.
Oh remains out on bail while his sentence is being deliberated by the court.
The penalty for giving false information to a public servant is imprisonment for up to two years, a fine, or both.
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Gilbert Oh Hin Kwan, 45, pleaded guilty on Friday (Apr 26) to a charge of providing false information to a public servant. He will return to court for sentencing on May 20.
The prosecution is seeking a fine of S$6,000 to S$9,000, while the defence is asking for a fine of less than S$5,000.
The court heard that Oh had agreed to help his friend, Chinese national Ms Jiang Si, bring watches that belonged to her from China to Singapore, where she was living.
On Jan 12, 2023, Oh contacted his colleague Mr Dion Loke Cheng Wang, who was serving at Singapore's embassy in Beijing, over WhatsApp.
Oh lied to Mr Loke that the parents of his friend, whom he said was a Chinese diplomat, wanted to have a package sent to him in Singapore. He asked Mr Loke to send it through MFA's diplomatic bag service.
Diplomatic bags are used to send documents or items for official use. Under the Vienna Convention, diplomatic bags cannot be opened or detained.
In truth, Ms Jiang was not a diplomat. Oh had said she was one as he thought that would make his colleague more likely to agree to his request, Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Pei Wei said.
Oh provided Mr Loke's residential address in Beijing to Ms Jiang and she arranged for a sealed package to be sent.
The package contained 21 luxury watches, a ring and about seven children's books, which all belonged to Ms Jiang and her partner, Mr Liu Liang. Oh was not aware of the number of watches or the exact contents of the package then.
As the diplomatic bag service was suspended at the time, Mr Loke did not use it to convey the package. Instead, he carried it in his luggage on a flight from China to Singapore on Jan 17, 2023.
After landing near midnight, his luggage was screened by Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers. The sealed package was opened, revealing the watches.
Mr Loke told the ICA officers that he had not known what the package contained, that he had received it from a Chinese diplomat, and that he was carrying it back for Oh.
The matter was referred to the police, who interviewed Mr Loke at the airport until the early hours of the morning. MFA was informed of the incident.
On the morning of Jan 19, 2023, MFA's then deputy secretary for management Mr Ong Eng Chuan told Oh to provide a written account of the circumstances in which Mr Loke had brought the package into Singapore.
Oh was concerned about disciplinary action being taken against him as it could impact his career progression, the prosecution said.
"He decided to tell MFA that the watches belonged to his father as he believed that the MFA was more likely to be lenient than if he told the truth," said Ms Tan.
Oh told his father about what he intended to tell MFA.
At about 6.30pm that day, he then sent an email to Mr Ong falsely stating that the watches belonged to his father, and that his father had asked for his help bringing them to Singapore.
This act constituted the offence of lying to a public servant to which Oh pleaded guilty.
Oh knew it was likely that this lie would cause Mr Ong not to look further into the circumstances in which the watches were brought to Singapore, said Ms Tan.
On the same day, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) started investigations into the case and interviewed Oh.
In his first statement to CPIB, given at about midnight on Jan 20, 2023, Oh repeated his lie about his father asking for help to bring the watches to Singapore.
But in his second statement at about 10.30am, he admitted that it was Ms Jiang, and not his father, who had asked for his help.
Oh also admitted to a charge of cheating MFA by concealing that a package of Panadol sent to Mr Loke in Beijing through the diplomatic bag service in December 2022 was actually meant for a personal friend.
This, along with another charge of abetting the cheating of MFA by asking Mr Loke to use a diplomatic bag to convey the luxury watches, was taken into consideration for sentencing.
Gilbert Oh Hin Kwan (left) at the State Courts on Apr 26, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Raydza Rahman)
HARM CAUSED BY HIS ACTIONS
In seeking a fine, the prosecution said that Oh was motivated by self-interest and had appeared to take steps to bolster his falsehood by speaking to his father first.
He also persisted in his lie in his first statement to CPIB.
She added that Oh's offence did not cause "appreciable harm", as he recanted his false statement about the package within 24 hours.
But Judge Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz questioned the level of potential harm that came from a high-ranking public servant lying to thwart internal investigations, which could undermine public trust in the institution he served.
"Wouldn't this attempt to subvert MFA's internal investigative process carry significant potential harm, especially given the fact that this was no ordinary public servant but a director-general, in his capacity, providing the false information?" she asked.
Ms Tan agreed that such potential harm was relevant to sentencing, but that the short timeline of the incident made it difficult to determine the impact of Oh's actions.
The prosecution considered the fact that the false information provided by Oh was limited to the ownership of the items in the package, and still disclosed wrongdoing by him.
The lie that Oh's father was the owner of the watches would not bring the intended use of the diplomatic bag into alignment with the service's policy, since the items would still not belong to MFA staff, said Ms Tan.
Another consideration was that MFA could also get information from Mr Loke, and if investigations continued, discrepancies in their accounts of the package would have surfaced and diminished Oh's credibility.
This was why the potential harm caused by Oh's offence was limited, said Ms Tan.
DEFENCE'S ARGUMENTS
In mitigation, defence lawyer Mr Shashi Nathan of Withers KhattarWong stressed Oh's remorse for his actions, his decision to plead guilty at the earliest instance and his full cooperation with authorities.
He also said that Oh was unlikely to reoffend, pointing to the fact that this was his first oversight in more than 17 years of service in MFA.
Oh's offending actions were out of character and motivated by his intentions to "help a friend in need", the defence argued.
Mr Nathan said that Oh used the diplomatic bag to convey Panadol to Beijing in December 2022 because there was a shortage of the medicine in China at the time, and his friend had asked for help for family members.
He also described the impact the case has had on Oh, whom he said had learnt "an extremely bitter and painful lesson".
"More importantly, your honour, his career is over in the diplomatic service. There's no coming back from this," said Mr Nathan. He added that Oh loved his work and had "dedicated his entire life" to the service.
He also pointed to character references made on Oh's behalf, including by former MFA second permanent secretary Bilahari Kausikan, currently chairman of the Middle East Institute.
Oh's offence was out of character for him and did not involve planning or premeditation, Mr Nathan argued.
"I think he didn't really apply his mind," said the lawyer. "He knows it probably was wrong to do it. He did not apply his mind to whether this was something that is really dishonest."
But the prosecution argued that the character references carried little mitigating weight.
Ms Tan said Oh held a high position in MFA and was entrusted with responsibilities, and that would have entailed being held in high regard by his superiors.
Mr Nathan told the court that Oh had submitted his resignation to MFA on Thursday.
However, Oh was informed that under the rules of the public service, his resignation could not be processed while his case was ongoing. There would be separate disciplinary action from MFA, added Mr Nathan.
Oh remains out on bail while his sentence is being deliberated by the court.
The penalty for giving false information to a public servant is imprisonment for up to two years, a fine, or both.
Continue reading...