THE former chief executive officer of a Singapore ventilation firm was charged yesterday with seven counts of bribing an executive of American conglomerate Honeywell.

Tommy Oh Boon Hua, 39, who used to work for Linair Technologies, is accused of having made illegal payoffs of more than $247,000 in 2003 and 2004 in order to secure a Singapore contract from the US-based giant.

He is also charged with two counts of conspiring to cheat Honeywell into paying $133,426 for equipment that was never delivered.

Oh, who was freed on $150,000 bail, will have to return to court on May 16. In the meantime, he will be allowed to visit China on business.

Oh resigned early last year as director of Linair's North Asia operations. He had stepped down as chief executive of the listed company in June 2005.

Founded in 1998, the company provides exhaust and ventilation systems to semiconductor, wastewater treatment, pharmaceutical and biotechnological firms. It was listed on the SGX-Sesdaq in February 2005, according to its website.

Oh is accused of giving bribes worth US$156,000 (S$212,400) and S$35,000 to Lim Niann Tsyr, who was then the operations manager of Honeywell. The allegations date between August 2003 and October 2004.

At the time, Honeywell was involved in building part of the biomedical research and development Biopolis complex in North Buona Vista Road. The bribes were meant to ensure that Linair and another company, Integrated Solutions Engineering, were hired to deliver and test a laboratory control system, the authorities alleged. The value of the contract was not stated in the charges.

Lim, 40, was jailed for 10 months for corruption and cheating in April last year. Anthony Lim, 34, an intermediary in the bribery plot, was jailed for six months in February.

If convicted, Oh could be jailed for up to five years and fined up to $100,000 for corruption and cheating.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on May 1, 2008.