SINGAPORE – A director-general at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) pleaded guilty on April 26 to giving false information to a public servant.

Gilbert Oh Hin Kwan, 45, admitted that he had lied to Mr Ong Eng Chuan, then MFA deputy secretary (management), on Jan 19, 2023.

Oh’s two cheating charges linked to the use of the diplomatic bag service will be considered during sentencing.

A diplomatic bag is used for sending official correspondence and items to and from the ministry and its overseas offices, such as embassies or consulates.

It is sealed and protected by diplomatic immunity and cannot be opened, searched or seized by Customs officials.

Oh’s troubles with the law started when he wanted to do a personal favour for a female friend, who is a Chinese national, by helping her send her watches from China to Singapore.

The prosecution said that the friend, identified in court documents as Ms Jiang Si, was not a diplomat.

On Jan 12, 2023, Oh contacted his colleague, Mr Dion Loke Cheng Wang, who was then attached to the Singapore Embassy in Beijing, and lied to the latter, claiming that the parents of his friend – a Chinese diplomat – wanted to have “something in a package” delivered to Oh in Singapore.

Oh asked for Mr Loke’s help to send it from Beijing to Singapore via the diplomatic bag service and Mr Loke agreed to the request.

Oh also provided Mr Loke’s residential address in Beijing to Ms Jiang and she arranged for a sealed package to be delivered to Mr Loke.

It contained 21 luxury watches, a ring, and seven children’s books, which belonged to Ms Jiang and her partner, one Liu Liang. The prosecution did not disclose the value of the items.

At the time, Oh was not aware of the number of watches or the exact contents of the package.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Pei Wei told the court: “Dion did not arrange to have the package dispatched to Singapore in the diplomatic bag service as it was suspended at the time.

“On Jan 17, 2023, Dion took a flight from China to Singapore. He carried the sealed package in his personal luggage.”

The offences came to light when officers from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority stopped Mr Loke for a bag screening shortly before midnight and the package was found.

“Dion told the officers that he had not known what the package contained (and that) he had received it from a Chinese diplomat and was carrying it back for (Oh),” said DPP Tan.

The matter was then referred to the Singapore Police Force and Mr Loke was interviewed at the scene. He was released at around 4am.

MFA was alerted and in the morning on Jan 19, 2023, Mr Ong told Oh to provide a written account of the circumstances that led to Mr Loke bringing the package and watches into Singapore.

Oh became concerned about disciplinary action being taken against him as it may impact his career progression.

He decided to tell MFA that the watches belonged to his father as he believed that the ministry was more likely to be lenient with this. He then spoke to his father about this incident.

Oh told his father that he intended to tell MFA that the watches belonged to the latter, and that the older man was the one who had asked for help to have them brought to Singapore.

In an e-mail to Mr Ong at around 6.30pm that day, Oh lied that the watches belonged to his father; and that his father had requested that Oh assist him in bringing these watches here.

The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) also started an investigation into the case on Jan 19, 2023, and Oh initially stuck to his lies in his first statement to the agency.

He revealed the truth in his second statement to the CPIB shortly before 10.30am the following day.

DPP Tan had urged the court to sentence Oh to a fine of between $6,000 and $9,000, adding that his lies did not appear to have wasted investigative resources since he came clean to the CPIB within 24 hours.

In an earlier statement, MFA said that Oh has been on no-pay leave while investigations were ongoing. It did not specify when investigations began.

Oh is represented by lawyers Shashi Nathan and Harjeet Kaur from Withers KhattarWong, who asked for their client to be given a fine of less than $5,000.

“This is our client’s first oversight in over 17 years of his illustrious career with MFA,” they stated in court documents.

“His intentions... were purely to help a friend in need. He had no ill-intentions or personal benefit to gain.”

In the mitigation plea, the lawyers also included character references from people including former diplomat Bilahari Kausikan and Oh’s family friend, a Dr Kelvin Neu.

Without revealing the sources of the quotes, the lawyers told the court that one such individual had said: “From my observation, Mr Oh is a righteous and honest person with integrity.”

However, DPP Tan told the court on April 26 that these character references carried little mitigating weight.

Mr Nathan said that his client offered his resignation on April 25 and the matter is still pending.

District Judge Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz had expressed her concern over the level of potential harm in the case and this could undermine the public’s trust in MFA.

DPP Tan replied that potential harm in the case was limited.

Oh is expected to be sentenced on May 20.