Alleged match-fixer Dan Tan’s ex-wife on trial for lying to CPIB officers

The ex-wife of alleged match-fixer Dan Tan went on trial on Monday (May 16) for lying to officers from the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB).

At the centre of the trial are the two laptops that Tan's then-wife Guan Enmei allegedly removed from the couple’s home on Jun 6, 2013, as Tan was being interviewed by CPIB officers. Guan passed the laptops to her limousine driver for safekeeping.

Prosecutors said that Guan denied any knowledge of the laptops in an interview with CPIB officers later that day, not knowing that her driver had been picked up and the laptops seized by CPIB. The 41-year-old mother of one was charged in May 2015 for lying to the CPIB.

In court on Monday, Guan maintained she left the house with only her handbag. However, prosecutors said she also brought along a white paper bag containing the two laptops on Tan’s instructions. Guan handed them to her limousine driver for safekeeping after she too, was called up by the CPIB, Deputy Public Prosecutor Stacey Fernandez added.

GUAN TOOK LAPTOPS AWAY: WITNESSES
Six witnesses testified for the prosecution on Monday, among them, convicted match-fixer Eric Ding Si Yang, who is currently serving a six-year jail term.

Ding said he received a call from Guan after Tan had been called up for investigations. She sounded “panicky and nervous”, and wanted advice on whether to call a lawyer and what she should do with the laptops, Ding told the court.

Ding said Guan, whom he called “the wife of a friend of mine”, might have asked him for help because he “used the same network of mobile phones and laptops” as her then-husband. He later elaborated that it was an "encrypted system of communication”.

Ding also said he was of the impression Guan “didn’t want it (the laptops) with her. She said she would pass it to (someone else)”. Ding said he thought it may have contained “incriminating evidence”.

Three CPIB officers also took the stand on Monday, as did two limousine drivers who met Guan on Jun 6.

Both drivers testified they saw her carrying a white paper bag, and one driver – Mr Alan Chen – said he had been entrusted with the laptops for safekeeping. He was picked up by CPIB officers at a coffeeshop nearby CPIB headquarters while waiting for Guan, who was being interviewed.

CPIB officer Frankie Lee said Guan sent a letter to CPIB shortly after she was charged last year. “(I am) very sorry I told lies on some issues”, she wrote, pleading for a second chance.

Guan is expected to take the stand on Tuesday in her own defence. She is being represented by Mr Foo Cheow Ming.

If found guilty of knowingly giving false information to the CPIB, Guan faces up to one year in jail and a fine of up to S$10,000.