Dan Tan's wife found guilty of lying to CPIB

Dan Tan's wife found guilty of lying to CPIB

After a two-day trial, the third wife of alleged match-fixing kingpin Dan Tan Seet Eng was yesterday found guilty of lying to an anti-graft investigator about two of his laptops, which she was trying to hide from the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB).

Guan Enmei, 41, had said during an interview at the bureau's office on June 6, 2013, that she had left her home with only a handbag and had not brought along a paper bag containing the laptops. But this was a lie.

District Judge Lee Poh Choo, in her brief grounds of decision, said Guan knew the laptops contained incriminating evidence and wanted to hide them from the CPIB.

The judge said Guan was not a credible witness and had lied while testifying in court.

"(Guan) projected herself as a meek housewife who was ignorant of her husband's activities and business. She claimed she did not know and she did not ask him anything.

"I did not believe her. She struck me as a savvy, know-ledgeable and capable lady. Hence, I did not believe that she would docilely do whatever Dan Tan asked her to do without questioning what and why," said the judge.

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The court heard that on June 6 that year, Tan was asked to report to CPIB's office. Before he left home, he told Guan to take two laptops, place them in a bag and hand it back to him after he was released.

That afternoon, Guan was herself told to report to the bureau. She placed a white Dior paper bag in the back seat before getting into the front passenger seat of a car.

On arriving at CPIB's carpark, Guan asked her driver to hold on to the bag. He then waited with it at a nearby coffee shop, where it was later seized by graft investigators.

When questioned by a CPIB officer, Guan insisted she did not know anything about the bag and laptops.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Jasmin Kaur asked for four to six months' jail as Guan's action was "akin to an attempt to obstruct the course of justice".

Defence lawyer Foo Cheow Ming said the false information Guan gave was relatively minor and had minimal impact, if any, on CPIB's investigations into Tan's alleged match-fixing activities. He asked for a conditional discharge or a fine.

Guan is expected to be sentenced next Monday. She is out on $10,000 bail.

The maximum penalty for giving false or misleading information to a CPIB investigator is a $10,000 fine and one year's jail.

Guan was Tan's third wife. She divorced him in July last year.

amirh@sph.com.sg


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