SINGAPORE: On Thursday (Nov 3), a director-general at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) was charged with two counts of cheating and one count of providing false information to a public servant for having sent packages to and from China using the diplomatic bag service.
This bag service is meant for official use only and is protected by diplomatic immunity. Bags registered under the service cannot be searched, seized or opened by customs. Moreover, 44-year-old Gilbert Oh Hin Kwan lied about who the package recipient would be.
Oh faces the possibility of a jail sentence of as long as three years or a fine should he be found guilty of cheating. As for a conviction for lying to a public servant, he could be jailed for as long as two years or be made to pay a fine.
The MFA told The Straits Times that Oh has been on leave without pay since investigations started regarding the charges against him.
The incidents over which Oh ran afoul of the law began in December last year. At the time, news reports said that an increasing number of Chinese nationals in Singapore were sending medicines such as Panadol back home amid a spike in COVID-19 cases due to a reported shortage of supplies.
Read related: Chinese in Singapore sending Panadol back home due to shortage, sparks concern of kiasu behaviour
He allegedly requested a colleague from the MFA to send two packages via the diplomatic bag service that were for his acquaintances. However, they were addressed to his MFA colleagues in Singapore and China. Oh did this on two occasions between December 2022 and January 2023.
The first package contained boxes of Panadol and was addressed to Dion Loke Cheng Wang, who is listed as the First Secretary (Political) at Singapore’s Embassy in Beijing.
In January this year, Oh reversed routes and allegedly sent Mr Loke a package containing luxury watches. Mr Loke entered Singapore with the watches on Jan 17.
For this package, Oh lied to then-MFA Deputy Secretary Ong Eng Chuan that the items belonged to his father, although the package belonged to and was meant for someone else.
A spokesperson for the MFA is quoted in CNA as saying, “MFA expects all its staff to uphold the highest standards of conduct. The officer has been on no-pay leave while investigations were ongoing.”
A week later, he purportedly lied to then-MFA Deputy Secretary Ong Eng Chuan about the package containing the luxury watches, which Mr Loke carried into Singapore on Jan 17. Oh claimed the watches belonged to his father.
The next hearing for Oh case is on Dec 21, as his lawyer, Mr Shashi Nathan from Withers KhattarWong, said that more time is needed for documentation and contacting the Attorney-General’s Chambers. /TISG