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CNA
9 hours ago
- Politics
- CNA
Indonesian fugitive Paulus Tannos contests extradition in Singapore's State Courts
SINGAPORE: The hearing into the extradition of Indonesian fugitive Paulus Tannos began at the State Courts on Monday (Jun 23) with Tannos' lawyers objecting to the admission of certain documents. Tannos, a Singapore permanent resident, is wanted by the Indonesian authorities for his role in a corruption case linked to the Indonesian government's electronic ID card project that is said to have caused the state about 2.3 trillion rupiah (US$140 million) in losses. Also known as Tjhin Thian Po, he appeared at the dock dressed in a white shirt as the case proceeded. The 70-year-old holds a diplomatic passport from West African country Guinea-Bissau and has been living in Singapore since 2017. He was arrested by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) on Jan 17 and has remained in remand after his application for bail was rejected. Before the current committal hearing, Tannos was repeatedly asked by the court if he wished to consent to his surrender to Indonesia. He repeatedly declined to be surrendered. Since he did not consent to his surrender to Indonesia, a committal hearing was fixed for Jun 23 to 25, where the court will hear evidence to determine whether he is liable to be surrendered to Indonesia under the Extradition Act and Extradition Treaty. The court will consider the evidence presented, including the formal extradition documents provided by Indonesia, as well as Tannos' own evidence. START OF HEARING Tannos is represented by lawyers Bachoo Mohan Singh from BMS Law, as well as Suang Wijaya and Hamza Malik from Eugene Thuraisingam, while the Singapore authorities are represented by State Counsels Vincent Leow, Sivakumar Ramasamy, Sarah Siaw and Emily Zhao from the Attorney-General's Chambers. The state counsels will argue that Tannos is liable to be surrendered and his extradition is not prohibited. They said on Monday that Tannos is wanted by Indonesia to stand trial on one charge of corruption. Court documents showed that the offence carries life imprisonment or a jail term of between four and 20 years and a fine. Before the first witness was called, Tanno's lawyer, Mr Singh, argued against the admission of certain documents, which were fresh affidavits from the Indonesian police. Mr Singh said these affidavits were recorded only after his client's arrest and were "manufactured". He argued that there were original documents, which comprised the formal request on his side, filed in March this year. These were a bundle of documents consisting of more than 1,600 pages tied in red ribbon as part of a formality. However, the affidavits were not part of these. These affidavits were ready in April and sent to the defence counsels only on Jun 12 this year, Mr Singh added. He also said that he wanted to raise this matter because the additional documents were put together with the original documents "without any explanation". One of his objections will also be on the quality of the evidence. Mr Singh will be arguing that the evidence is not reliable because it was taken some 15 years only after the alleged events in 2010 or 2011. Due to these inadequacies, the court should throw out the documents and not order the extradition since the documents did not comply with formal requirements, he said. Deputy Principal District Judge Luke Tan allowed the proceedings to continue with objections to be raised as the hearing continued. The state then called its first witness, CPIB's chief special investigator Alvin Tang, who first arrested Tannos on Jan 17 this year. Under examination by the state counsel, Mr Tang told the court that he applied for a warrant of apprehension before arresting Tannos at his residence at about 12.30pm. Mr Tang also said that in April, investigators from the Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi, which is the Corruption Eradication Commission of Indonesia, submitted supplementary affidavits the same month. Mr Suang, another of Tannos' lawyers, then objected to the series of documents being admitted on the basis that they did not comply with the requirement for overseas documents to be authenticated. For Tannos' arrest warrant, Mr Suang said the original document, in Bahasa Indonesian language, was not placed before the court. Pointing to two affidavits submitted by the Indonesian authorities, Mr Suang also highlighted "defects" in the documents that formed the basis of the defence's objections. These included how the official seals on the documents were not translated and how the signatures of the witnesses were not authenticated.
Malay Mail
11-06-2025
- Business
- Malay Mail
Malaysian billionaire Ong Beng Seng to plead guilty in Singapore ex-transport minister Iswaran's corruption case on July 3
SINGAPORE, June 11 — Billionaire hotelier Ong Beng Seng will plead guilty on July 3 in a high-profile graft case linked to Singapore's former transport minister S. Iswaran. The Straits Times reported that the 79-year-old tycoon's plea date was confirmed following a pre-trial conference in Singapore yesterday. His plea was initially slated for April 2 but was delayed after his lawyers requested more time to obtain medical reports. Ong, best known for bringing Formula One to Singapore in 2008, faces two charges: abetting a public servant to obtain gifts and abetting the obstruction of justice. He was charged on October 4, 2024. According to court documents, Ong had allegedly arranged for Iswaran to fly on his private jet from Singapore to Doha in December 2022 — a flight valued at US$7,700 (RM32,615). He also covered a one-night stay for Iswaran at the Four Seasons Hotel Doha, worth S$4,737.63, and a business-class return flight to Singapore valued at S$5,700. Ong is accused of tipping off Iswaran that the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) had seized the flight manifest for the trip, prompting the then-minister to ask Ong to retroactively bill him to avoid scrutiny. This led to Ong being charged with the abetment of obstruction of justice. Ong's links to Iswaran go back nearly two decades. In the mid-2000s, the two men worked together to convince then-Formula One Group chief executive Bernie Ecclestone to bring the sport's first-ever night race to Singapore. Iswaran served as chairman of the F1 steering committee and was the Singapore government's chief negotiator on related matters with Singapore GP. Iswaran, 62, was sentenced to 12 months in jail on October 3, 2024, after pleading guilty to five charges, including receiving gifts from Ong and David Lum Kok Seng, managing director of Lum Chang Holdings. He was placed on the Home Detention Scheme in February 2025 and completed his sentence on June 6. Ong has since announced plans to step down as managing director of Hotel Properties Limited, the company he founded.
Online Citizen
02-06-2025
- Online Citizen
Singapore court rejects prosecutors' bid to strike out fugitive Indonesian's CPIB allegations
SINGAPORE: A district court on 28 May rejected an application by the prosecution to strike out portions of affidavits submitted in the bail hearing of Indonesian fugitive Paulus Tannos. The affidavits, said to contain allegations against Singapore's Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), were not disclosed in court. Tannos, also known as Tjhin Thian Po, was arrested in Singapore on 17 January 2025 by the CPIB following a provisional arrest request from Indonesian authorities. He has been on Indonesia's wanted list since 19 October 2021 for his alleged role in a massive corruption scandal involving the Indonesian government's electronic identification card (e-KTP) project, which resulted in estimated state losses of 2.3 trillion rupiah (S$181.7 million). Tannos was the president and director of Sandipala Arthaputra, a technology firm awarded a contract to produce components for the e-KTP project. According to the Straits Times, Deputy Senior State Counsel Sivakumar Ramasamy told the court on 27 and 28 May that Tannos' defence counsel had requested permission on 15 May to file an affidavit related to his hospitalisation at Changi General Hospital (CGH) between 2 and 9 May. The court granted the request, and two affidavits were submitted—one by Tannos and another by his lawyer, Paulus Sinatra Wijaya. However, Sivakumar argued that both affidavits went beyond the scope permitted. He said parts of Tannos' affidavit addressed his past interactions with the Indonesian authorities and the CPIB, in response to points raised by a CPIB investigating officer regarding his status as a potential flight risk. Sivakumar added that these matters had already been addressed during an earlier bail hearing, and legal arguments had been made on the same issues. On 28 May, Tannos' defence lawyer Bachoo Mohan Singh objected to the prosecution's application to strike out the affidavits. 'I've never come across a scenario where, when a man is fighting for his liberty, he is constrained from saying what he wishes to say,' said Singh. Addressing District Judge Brenda Tan, he added: 'I would not be doing my job if I were to ignore important issues which I consider vital in my client's effort to seek liberty.' He said the defence had no objection to the prosecution filing a response. After hearing both sides, Judge Tan rejected the prosecution's application. 'I'm inclined to leave the further affidavits in the application on record in the interest of justice and completeness, and give the state a chance to respond to this,' she said. However, she told Singh: 'To be fair, you have put in contents which you were not given permission to, so the state has a right of reply.' Separately, Judge Tan referred to a CGH medical report that had been submitted earlier, noting that she personally knew the senior consultant who signed off on it. She asked whether either side had concerns with her presiding over the bail hearing. Both Singh and the prosecution said they had no issue. At the conclusion of the hearing, Tannos again declined to consent to extradition to Indonesia. Under the Extradition Act, fugitives can give consent and waive extradition proceedings. Singapore received Indonesia's provisional arrest request on 19 December 2024. Following a joint assessment by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) and the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC), authorities determined that the request fulfilled the conditions set out in the extradition treaty between both countries. A warrant was subsequently issued and executed on 17 January 2025. Indonesia followed up with a formal extradition request on 24 February. On 10 March, Minister K. Shanmugam confirmed that Singapore was working to expedite the extradition process and reiterated the country's full commitment to upholding its extradition obligations. The Singapore–Indonesia extradition treaty, which came into force on 21 March 2024, covers offences including corruption, money laundering, and bribery, and allows for the retroactive application of the treaty to crimes committed up to 18 years ago. A committal hearing to determine whether Tannos should be extradited to face charges has been set for June.
International Business Times
31-05-2025
- International Business Times
Chinese National Jailed in Singapore for Offering S$50 Bribe to ICA Officer After Being Caught with Contraband Cigarettes
A 29-year-old student as sentenced to four weeks' jail on Friday, May 30, after she pleaded guilty to offering bribe of least $50 to an Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer. This comes after the Singapore-based foreign student was caught with contraband cigarettes at the Woodlands Checkpoint and tried to get off the hook by offering a bribe to the ICA officer. The officer did not take the money that Chinese national Sun Song had offered her, and the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) was informed following the incident. She has since paid a $650 fine for failing to declare the smokes she disposed of. According to Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Pei Wei, Sun had traveled from Malaysia and was in a private-hire vehicle at the Woodlands Checkpoint when two ICA officers halted it for a regular search at 6.40pm on November 23, 2024. Sun was sitting in the rear passenger seat when one of the officers, Sergeant (2) Nurliana Mohamad Sufian, noticed a white plastic bag with smokes near her. Sun did not respond verbally when asked if she had anything to declare, so ICA officers directed the driver to the side of the road. Sun slipped the white plastic bag into the car boot via the passenger seats. Sgt Nurliana requested that the car boot be opened, and she discovered that the plastic bag contained ten packets of cigarettes. When questioned, the driver denied having these things, according to court records. Sgt Nurliana then turned her attention to Sun, who begged "please" and "help me" in English while rubbing her palms together. DPP Tan said, as quoted by The Straits Times, "The accused then said 'I give you money', took out not less than $50 in cash from her purse and proffered it to Sgt Nurliana. The accused did this as she was worried about being arrested and wanted Sgt Nurliana to let her off." "The driver immediately grabbed the accused's arm upon seeing this. Sgt Nurliana also warned the accused that she had a body-worn camera (and) the accused did not persist," Tan added. The ICA reported the incident to the police at 7 p.m. that day, and the case was later submitted to the CPIB, who arrested Sun on December 10, 2024. Pleading for leniency, defense lawyer Foo Ho Chew told the court that his client is remorseful, adding: "While the form of gratification offered is of low value, a mere $50 in cash, she now realizes the significance and severity of her actions." Foo also said that Sun had cooperated with the authorities during their investigation into the case.
New Paper
30-05-2025
- New Paper
Woman jailed for offering $50 bribe to ICA officer after being caught with contraband cigarettes
A Singapore-based foreign student, who was caught with contraband cigarettes at the Woodlands Checkpoint, tried to get off the hook by offering a bribe of least $50 to an Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer. The officer did not take the money that Chinese national Sun Song had offered her, and the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) was alerted soon after. On May 30, the 29-year-old offender was sentenced to four weeks' jail after she pleaded guilty to offering the bribe. She has since paid a composition of $650 for failing to declare the cigarettes which have been disposed of. Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Pei Wei said that Sun had travelled from Malaysia and was at the Woodlands Checkpoint in a private hire vehicle when two ICA officers stopped it for a routine search at around 6.40pm on Nov 23, 2024. Sun was sitting on the rear passenger seat when one of the officers, Sergeant (2) Nurliana Mohamad Sufian spotted a white plastic bag containing cigarettes beside her. Sun did not give a verbal answer when asked if she had anything to declare and the ICA officers told the driver to drive to the side of the road. As he did so, Sun slipped the white plastic bag into the car boot through the passenger seats. Sgt Nurliana asked for the car boot to be opened, and she found that the plastic bag contained 10 packs of cigarettes. The driver denied owning these items when questioned, the court heard. Sgt Nurliana then turned her attention to Sun, who pleaded by saying "please" and "help me" in English while running her palms together. DPP Tan said: "The accused then said 'I give you money', took out not less than $50 in cash from her purse and proffered it to Sgt Nurliana. The accused did this as she was worried about being arrested and wanted Sgt Nurliana to let her off. "The driver immediately grabbed the accused's arm upon seeing this. Sgt Nurliana also warned the accused that she had a body-worn camera (and) the accused did not persist." ICA reported the matter to the police at around 7pm that day and the case was later referred to the CPIB, which arrested Sun on Dec 10, 2024. Pleading for leniency, defence lawyer Foo Ho Chew told the court that his client is remorseful, adding: "While the form gratification offered is of low value, a mere $50 in cash, she now realises the significance and severity of her actions." Mr Foo also said that Sun had cooperated with the authorities during their investigation into the case.
