THE TWELFTH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE ON THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE RESPONSE TO CORRUPTIONVISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERSINVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF CORRUPTION OFFENCES
Soh Kee Hean*I. INTRODUCTION
In the first paper, I explained the system of corruption control that has been put in place in Singapore.
Within this scheme, right from the beginning, enforcement and investigation of corruption offences isa function which had been accorded great emphasis. Through persistent enforcement efforts against
corruption, we are able to keep corruption levels low. The corrupt offender must feel that this is a high riskbusiness and must feel that they will be caught and dealt with for their crimes. The law and the enforcement
agency must combine to give bite to the anti-corruption efforts.

II. PURPOSE
We know that different anti-corruption agencies around the world adopt different approaches andstrategies in the way they manage enforcement and investigation work. My presentation will touch on how
we do it in CPIB. The purpose of my paper is two-fold:
1.

To share our experiences so that we can have a means for mutual learning. We can also learn fromothers and refine our system and likewise, what we have experienced may provide pointers forothers to reflect upon; and2.

Secondly, an understanding of the investigation approaches and strategies can further enhance thebasis for mutual co-operation and assistance. By understanding one another in investigation matters,
we can facilitate support for one another.

III. A TOTAL APPROACH TO ENFORCEMENT AND INVESTIGATIONCPIB is under the Prime Minister’s Office. We report to the Prime Minister and not to any other
Minister or government authority. This gives us functional independence so that no government body canquestion us or influence us in our enforcement and investigation efforts.
Our approach in investigation is a total approach. This ensures we have a good control over the situation
and we can contain corruption cases as far as possible. What do we mean by total approach, some of you may
be wondering? It simply means:Firstly, no case is too small to investigate. For example, a motorist is stopped for drunk driving and hetries to bribe the traffic police officer to let him off. He will be charged in court. If a foreign visitor is at ourimmigration control point at our border and he did not meet the entry requirements but tries to bribe theimmigration officer, he will be charged in court. In short, we don’t tolerate corruption and the message isclear to all that any case will be investigated and dealt with seriously.
Secondly, we deal with cases regardless of rank and status. Even serving Ministers had been charged andChief Executive Officers of major companies have been dealt with too. There is no exemption for the ‘big
fish’ or for anyone in high places. The same processes and procedures apply to all.
We are prepared to deal with both givers and receivers of bribes. Under our law, they are equallyculpable. Of course, sometimes we may not charge the giver if he was under duress when he gave the bribeor there were some other reasons which led to the offence.

* Director, Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), Singapore.

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We fight corruption in all sectors. CPIB’s mandate is to investigate corruption in both the public andprivate sectors. This will include the civil service, the military, the Courts, Parliament etc, as well as
all the industries and businesses. The same law applies to all sectors. This may be different from somecountries, where the anti-corruption agency may focus only on public sector. In the public sector, CPIB helps
ensure there is good governance and delivery of government services. In other words, CPIB helps to keep
government clean. For the private sector, it ensures healthy economic activities
We don’t leave it to various government authorities to deal with the problem. For example, if there is
an issue involving Immigration Department, we don’t just leave it to them. We will take over corruption
investigation and if necessary, the immigration investigation as well. In other cases, we may jointly
investigate with them so that a complete resolution of the corruption and immigration offences can beachieved. We may also help government departments review their systems to remove or change those
procedures which may be vulnerable to corruption.
We are prepared to investigate based on anonymous complaints. Of course, we need to be very careful sothat we are not “used” by someone who is malicious and wants to cause harm to others. We will process theinformation and there is a weekly session where the Directorate members (comprising Director and Heads
of Operation Units) will meet to decide if investigation should be conducted on any complaint received. We
will consider factors such as:• details of information provided, for example specific persons, organizations, transactions etc;
• whether there is any public interest dimension, for example security and safety concerns; and• any lead which we can work on or use to verify the information provided.
The CPIB is also empowered to investigate other offences apart from corruption. This is crucial as
corruption offences may not exist in isolation and may be mixed with other offences such as cheating,commercial crimes, property crimes and so on. It will be a serious impediment if CPIB officers have to stop
short when interviewing suspects who are not obliged to respond to questions touching on other areas.
Therefore the powers to investigate other crimes uncovered during corruption investigations are provided
for in the Prevention of Corruption Act.
We make it easy for anyone to report corruption offences. The CPIB is very accessible. The public canreport by making phone calls to our hotline which is operated round the clock, or they can visit our office at
any time. They can also send us letters by post or fax. They can also report from their homes via the CPIB
internet website (www.cpib.gov.sg) or sending us an email. By opening up all possible venues for reporting,
we hope that those who have come across or are aware of corruption cases will have less difficulty andunwillingness to report.

IV. WHY DEAL WITH PRIVATE SECTOR CORRUPTION?
As mentioned, CPIB can investigate cases in the private sector. Let me explain the reasons why CPIB
has to deal with corruption in the private sector as follows, namely:
1. Corruption in the private sector affects public interest. Some used to erroneously think that private
sector corruption is a private affair between the giver and the taker. But consider the following. When asupermarket purchaser take bribes from a supplier, the supplier will inevitably mark up its cost to cover thebribes. In so doing, the supermarket which purchased the goods at a higher price will sell it an even higher
price. It is the public that suffers in the end.
2. Singapore is a small nation without natural resources. It has to depend on trade and foreign investment.
To attract investment, we have to ensure that business cost is low and corruption whether, in the private or
public sector, increases business cost.
3. The private sector is a key pillar of the Singapore’s economy. It drives national economic growth. We needto have a level playing field for all and the private sector must be clean in order for foreign businesses towant to work with us and to invest in Singapore.

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4. The private and public sectors are also intertwined, which is another reason why it matters that CPIB
watches over the private sector as well. As more and more government functions become outsourced tothe private sector, many private companies are now performing functions once used to be performed by thegovernment. Corruption in private sectors which are involved in strategic functions can also impact the key
areas of government and the society at large.
5. A lot of the private sector enterprises have huge public shareholdings as well. If the enterprise is not wellrun and commits crimes, then its share price may be affected and this in turn affects the interests of the
public.

V. TYPES OF CASES
Corruption cases can come in various forms – some of the cases we have seen in the public and private
sector are:Cases involving contracts or procurement of services or supplies. The corrupt offender receives
kickbacks in return for awarding contracts. An example of a recent case involves senior staff management ofa car company for receiving expensive gifts in return for awarding agency contracts.
Cases involving corrupt offenders who supervise contractors or suppliers, for example, not checking
on the quality of work or product delivered and overlooking deficiencies. This can result in serious
repercussions. An example, in building works, we have dealt with clerk of works who took bribes tooverlook certain deficiencies. We have also dealt with inventory or warehouse staff, who were corrupted andaccepted imitation or substandard goods delivered by suppliers in return for bribes.
There are those who are corrupt, and have access to sensitive data and divulge to unauthorized persons
in return for some rewards. These cases involve people working in areas where there are storehouses ofdata about customers and they abuse it by passing on to persons such as illegal moneylenders who werelooking for their debtors and private investigators tracing whereabouts of persons of interest.
There are those who are in positions of authority such as the CEO or General Manager, who took bribes
and granted approval for various matters in favour of the bribe givers.
In some cases, corruption is mixed with other offences. For example, the corrupt may also cook thecompany’s books when they try to hide the corrupt transactions. They may manufacture false invoices
to reflect fictitious transactions. Once uncovered, they will be dealt with by CPIB. Our officers are also
empowered to investigate other crimes uncovered in the course of corruption investigations.

VI. INVESTIGATION STRATEGIES
So, what is the magical formula to effectively investigate corruption offences? In order to achieve thismission, we approach it through a framework of action which involves four inextricably linked competencies,that is Intelligence, Interview, Forensics and Field Operations. The success of solving corruption cases
hinges on the interplay of these competencies.

A. IntelligenceIntelligence work is critical in the current landscape of constant threats and vulnerabilities. It involves
the collation and processing of information for specific objectives, so you can say that intelligence work isreally a discreet form of investigation. Intelligence work often provides the basis for successful investigation.
A proactive approach can enhance the success of major operations and effectiveness of investigations. Our
Intelligence Division adopts both a strategic and tactical stance – we have projects which are intelligence-led
operations where our Intelligence Division leads efforts in collation, analysis and pointing out the direction
and leads for investigation to follow. We also have cases where Intelligence Division plays a supporting role to
our Operations Units in their investigations by providing critical information such as establishing identities,
relationships and locations etc during the pre-operation and operations phase.

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To stay on top of the situation, we need to continue its successful efforts by building on its capabilities
and strong expertise; expand on its current resources and established networks and relationships. Outward
and internal approaches are both adopted, as it is vital for intelligence to stay relevant and effective. It isalso imperative for us to continue its close liaison with our overseas counterparts such as Hong Kong ICAC
(Independent Commission Against Corruption), Malaysia ACA (Anti-Corruption Agency), and our local
agencies from the Singapore Police Force, Immigration & Checkpoints Authority and Central Narcotics
Bureau.

B. Interview
It is often challenging to handle corruption cases where more often than not, the complainant is as likely
to be culpable of the corrupt act as the accused person. Lines are blurred, and our officers are hard pressedto find a clear-cut situation, where there is a distinct perpetrator and victim. In corruption cases, our officers
are frequently confronted by complainants or witnesses who are not forthcoming, for fear that what they say
may implicate them. Hence, it is imperative that our officers are equipped with all aspects of investigative
work, particularly their ability to sieve out the truth from the witnesses, as well as to discern the innocent
from the guilty. This brings us to the second competency – Interview.
An interview, simply put, involves the questioning of a person regarding his involvement or suspected
involvement in a criminal offence. There are scores of reasons why people choose not to give the necessary
information, or choose to mislead by giving false information. Hence, it is important for officers to be flexible
enough to switch modes to tailor to the varying situations or types of persons being interviewed.
Our Courts are quite stringent these days, increasing the weightage given to other admissible evidence,
as opposed to merely just accepting positive statements or confessions given by accused persons. In
consequence, we have to emphasize greatly on developing the interview skills of our officers, which can be
the determining factor in cracking a highly complex investigations.
In regard to interview, we do utilize the polygraph machine and we find it very useful. However, we do
not use the polygraph test result as evidence in court but only as an aid to investigations.

C. Forensics
Another area which we pay much attention to these days is Forensics or, specifically, Computer
Forensics, which is becoming indispensable in our investigations.
The sheer complexity of illicit transactions, whether it is at the individual, syndicate or corporate levels,
requires an incredible level of expertise and capability from our officers. Criminals’ little black books haveundergone a major facelift and have progressed to PDAs, smart mobile phones, personal desktops, and theamount of records detailing corrupt transactions electronically is overwhelming.
To overcome this challenge, CPIB has set up a Computer Forensic Unit, field by officers on a part-timebasis, trained to handle the collection, preservation, analysis and court presentation of computer-related
evidence. As we are new in this area, our officers are in contact with our counterpart from the Criminal
Investigation Department’s Technology Crime Forensic Branch to share experience and pointers in thisarea. As some high end capability may be required which the Bureau does not have, we will depend on ourpartners when necessary.
There are various cases where forensic evidence played a big part in solving cases. I forsee in the near
future, with great advances in technological tools, software, and elaborate IT infrastructures, computer
forensics will play an even more proactive role, in tandem with intelligence, as opposed to being a mere
investigative support and response mechanism.

D. Field Operations
By field operations, I refer to the range of investigative activities carried out in the field, for example
search and seizure, field enquiries, raids and arrests. How its done and how much information security is
exercised over it will determine the success of any operation. This cannot be overlooked and the capability
need to be developed and worked on continously.

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E. Interplay of Four Competencies
The synergy from the interplay of these four competencies – Intelligence, Interview, Forensics and Field
Operations is critical to the success of cracking of our major cases. Operation Crossover is one of suchcases, showcasing the interplay of these elements. In this case, our Intel asset had given us sufficient details
on who were the main players of the syndicate from the company styled Citiraya involved in the diversion of
the computer chips, who were the staffs from client companies that were bribed and their modus operandi.
Our Intel asset also told us the exact container, which was kept in the free trade zone, containing a shipmentof computer chips to be enrouted to Hong Kong. With this information, an operation was mounted, resulting
in the seizure of that container. Subsequently, through intensive interrogations and interviews, the parties
involved had admitted to the corrupt activities. Forensic searches and analysis carried out on Ng Teck Boon,one of the main player’s computer notebook had also attributed to the cracking of this case – it revealed
records of shipments of computer chips fraudulently obtained through corrupt means and inflation of thecompany’s accounts. This piece of evidence, together with other physical evidence such as uncrushed
computer chips seized from Teck Boon’s company and warehouse had led to his confession and admissionsof other parties involved in the scam.
The 4 competencies interact and by extracting the appropriate value from each one and allow each toleverage off the other for maximum results. At various junctures, any one of these competencies will play amore significant role to provide the breaking point for successful solution of cases. For instances, if crucial
evidence was hidden in computers and through computer forensics, investigators are able to unlock theevidence, then this may prove to be the key to solving the case in hand. Similarly, the interview pillar may
play the bigger role when skillful interrogation of suspects led to confessions or the gathering of criticalevidence which are instrumental in solving the case.

VII. EVIDENCE GATHERING AND PROSECUTION
What we are mindful of is that for us to be successful in getting positive investigation results, we need toemphasize on evidence gathering. This is always a challenge as:a)b)corruption offenders will hide and not tell the truth; andthere are increasingly sophisticated modus operandi used and methods to transact and hide bribemonies.

When we apply our minds in using the four competencies of intelligence, interview, forensics and field
operations, we also focus on collecting and consolidating the evidence. From the evidence, we review thecase. Sometimes, we sit together and discuss in case conferences to go through these issues – Do wehave the evidence to charge anyone? What evidence is there when we proceed to charge? We make use ofan evidence matrix. This matrix has facilitated our case review and decision making process. Evidence of
accepting/receiving/obtaining gratifications is inside, where officers document actus reas, inputting details of
the corrupt transactions which the subject has admitted to in his statements, e.g. when did the transaction
occur, who did he hand the gratification over to, what are the documentary evidence, etc. Juxtaposed on
the information, is the detailing of documentary or other evidence of giving/offering/promising of thecorrupt transactions. Usually for easier reference, the evidence for giver and receiver involved in the sametransaction are placed next to each other, quoting the paragraph of the subject’s statements where theinformation was extracted from. As for the evidence on corrupt intent, it is also recorded in the table, and it
includes details such as what are the gratifications meant for.
At the end of the day, we need to address the legal aspects. In the Singapore system, CPIB does nothave in-house legal experts. We understand that in some countries, the anti corruption agency have theirinhouse legal experts and some agencies also conduct prosecution themselves. CPIB depends on the
Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) for legal advice. Under our law, we cannot charge a person in court forcorruption unless the Attorney-General gives his express consent. So there is a division of responsibilities
and a check and balance. We in CPIB are the operational experts in investigating corruption offences. We put
together the case file and document all the evidence gathered. But we need the legal experts from AGC, so
the case file is sent to them. Together, when both operational experts and legal experts agree that there is acase, we can then proceed to charge offender in court. Once prosecution is mounted, CPIB officers will work
together with prosecutors to present the evidence in court.

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In terms of prosecution, as we are prepared to prosecute both givers and receivers of bribes, we have tostage our prosecution of the accused persons in sequential order. But then if we prosecute all parties, whois going to give evidence for the prosecution. Sometimes the receiver is prosecuted first and the giver is theprosecution witness. After the case is over, the giver is prosecuted and the receiver in turn becomes thewitness. This can present some challenge especially when there is not much independent evidence apartfrom what the giver and receiver say about the crime. Therefore as we adopt this tough stance against bothsides of the corruption crime, it is the responsibility of the CPIB as the law enforcement lead to ensure thatit gathers strong evidence on the case so as to be able to prosecute all parties involved.
There are instances where the only evidence we have is from the giver and the giver is not willing totestify unless he is given immunity from prosecution. As a rule, the Attorney General’s Chambers does notgrant immunity easily. It will be under exceptional grounds if immunity is granted.
The conviction rates of above 95% each year bears testimony to the strength of cases brought to court.
There may be cases in the public sector, where after investigation, there is no evidence of corruption
but there is evidence that the public official had infringed some government rule or regulation. In suchsituations, the Bureau will provide the information to the Public Service Commission or to the person’s
parent Ministry for them to take departmental disciplinary proceedings against the said officer. The
information and evidence collected through investigation can then be put to good use.
In some cases, apart from dealing with the culprits, after the case is over, the Bureau may note down
vulnerabilities or loopholes in the system of work, work process or procedures of the affected government
department and offer some recommendations for them to consider as they work towards plugging any
loophole or vulnerability.

VIII. THREE STRATEGIC THRUSTS
To discharge its role as a lead investigation agency, CPIB must be on top of the situation and its capability
must be up to mark. To ensure this, CPIB embarks on 3 strategic thrusts, namely Strengthening Operational
Capabilities, Forging Networks & Partnerships and Investing in Organizational Excellence.
In “Strengthening Operational Capabilities”, CPIB seeks to improve on investigation capabilities such as
document examination, computer forensic, financial investigations. We need to hone our skills in the areas
required.
In “Forging Networks & Partnerships”, CPIB forges partnerships with local and international entities.
To ensure good governance and to combat corruption effectively, CPIB recognizes the need to strengtheninternational and regional cooperation and liaison. As a result, CPIB has actively participated in various
anti-corruption initiatives and international fora, such as UNCAC (United Nations Convention Against
Convention) – Conference of State Parties, ADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative, ACT Task Force (APEC
Anti-Corruption and Transparency Task Force), MOU (Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding on
Cooperation for Preventing and Combating Corruption amongst anti corruption agencies of the ASEAN
region), and the IAACA (International Association of Anti Corruption Authorities).
In “Investing in Organizational Excellence”, CPIB invests heavily in training her people and encourages
staff to share knowledge and innovate. We regularly do inhouse learning where we bring all operational
staff together for training. We may invite experts from various government Ministries and from private
industry to address the officers on issues of topical interest. When there are new areas of work, we will build
new capabilities. For instance, next year, Singapore will have Casinos and Casino related corruption cases
may occur. Therefore the Bureau is building its capability to tackle such situations. CPIB is also active inoutreach programmes to raise public awareness through regular talks, especially for public officers such as
enforcement agencies, on the pitfalls of corruption. Selective outreach is done with specific industry sectors.

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IX. CONCLUSION
There are various challenges we face in investigating corruption offences. Firstly, the changing natureof corruption. While behaviour and motivation of the corrupted may be similar, the methods used havetransformed greatly. There is more sophistication seen in corruption today. More complex methods are used.
The corrupt transactions are more complicated, going through various loops and intermediaries. There
are more methods used to hide the money trail such as bank transfers, false accounting, phantom workers,
camouflage payments of various types. Computers are often used in the commission of the offence such that
where we used to seize paper records in the past, today, we seize a lot of computers and electronic media. It
is thus important for the enforcement agency to continually upgrade its capability and ensure its personnel
are well trained and well skilled.
Secondly, there is internationalization of the issue of corruption. Corruption offences can cross international
borders. This brings with it challenges for law enforcement and where necessary, we need to work with foreigncounterparts in investigating corruption cases. At the international level, there is also greater interest bygovernments around the world in dealing with corruption.
Corruption is a dynamic phenomenon and CPIB continue to have an important role to play in keeping
Singapore clean, and our efforts to combat corruption and uphold a high standard of transparency would nothave been possible without galvanizing the synergy from the roles played by the whole of government. In
addition, we also require our fellow law enforcement members, like all of you, to join in and help in the fightagainst corruption.

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