The Court of Appeal of the Republic of Singapore on Friday (15 March) upheld the previous ruling of an 80-month jail sentence for the Executive Director of marine fuel trading firm Pacific Prime Trading (PPT) despite a second round of appeal.

Koh Seng Lee (Mr Koh), who paid former BP Singapore manager Chang Peng Hong Clarence (Mr Chang) $5.88 million in bribes on 19 occasions between 2006 and 2010, is expected to begin his jail sentence on Wednesday (27 March).

Original sentence – State Courts

The State Courts of Singapore on May 2021 found Mr Koh and Mr Chang guilty of corruption and initially issued a 54-month jail sentence for both parties.

Further, Mr Chang was issued a penalty of SGD 6 million (exact: SGD 6,220,095) and faced an additional 28-month imprisonment term if he decides not to pay the penalty.

Both Mr Koh and Mr Chang decided to appeal the State Court’s decision by taking the case to the High Court.

First appeal attempt – High Court

The High Court on March 2023 increased the jail sentence for both appellants to an 80-month imprisonment term after a failed appeal attempt by Mr Koh and Mr Chang on the May 2021 decision.

“In relation to sentence, I dismissed the appellants’ appeals against their respective sentences,” stated Vincent Hoong, Judge of the High Court, in his judgement dated August 2023.

“I allowed the appeal by the Prosecution in respect of both sentences and set aside the sentences of 54 months’ imprisonment imposed by the District Judge for Koh and Chang.

“I imposed a sentence of 80 months’ imprisonment for each appellant. I further ordered that three penalty orders under s 13(1) of the PCA be imposed on Chang for the amounts of $1,796,090 $1,905,520, and $2,175,985, with a total in-default imprisonment term of 2129 days’ imprisonment.”

Second appeal attempt – Court of Appeal

Both Mr Koh and Mr Chang went to the Court of Appeal to contest the High Court’s August 2023 decision by stating the Prosecution breached its disclosure obligations under Muhammad bin Kadar and another v PP [2011] 3 SLR 1205 (Kadar), amongst other claims.

Submissions by Deputy Public Prosecutors in December 2023, as seen by bunkering publication Manifold Times, concluded: “The Kadar questions do not satisfy the requirements for leave to be granted. They do not arise from the case that was before the High Court, and they are not questions of law of public interest. Rather, they are attempts to circumnavigate the single tier of appeals of our criminal justice system. Leave should be refused, and costs should be awarded.”

The Court of Appeal’s decision on appeal is final and cannot be further appealed against, according to the government of Singapore.

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Photo credit: Manifold Times
Published: 27 March 2024