SINGAPORE – The co-owner of a property agency who had allegedly built a hidden floor spanning over 5,000 sq ft was slapped with two more charges on Friday (April 8).
Yeo Choon Guan, 50, also known as Stanley Yeo, was accused of authorising the construction of a mezzanine floor within unit 08-01 at The Alexcier building in Alexandra Road, despite the plans not being approved by the Commissioner of Building Control under Section 5 of the Building Control Act.
Yeo also faces a second charge from the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) for authorising the carrying out of building works without a permit in force.
The Building Control Act states that anyone convicted of carrying out unauthorised building work is liable to a fine of up to $200,000, a jail term of up to two years or both.
This takes the total number of charges against Yeo to four.
Yeo had earlier been charged with abetting for intentionally aiding Communication Design International (Singapore) in the erection of the illegal floor without planning permission from the Urban Authority of Singapore (URA).
He was also accused of permitting the carrying out of fire safety works to the unauthorised floor without obtaining approval from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).
Yeo had allegedly committed the offences some time between 2008 and 2009 in his capacity as a director of SLP International Property Consultants – a property agency he co-founded with his wife Kain Sim.
The hidden floor – the first known case of its kind – came to light when the authorities acted on a tip-off and conducted an inspection of the building in February 2019.
The hidden floor was accessible only by stairs from the eighth-floor office.
The Straits Times reported in March 2019 that various living and work spaces with workstations, beds, a kitchen and a meeting room were found on the illegal ninth floor, which was demolished by April 2019.
The unit has been owned by real estate investment firm ZACD Investments since 2008.
ZACD Investments, co-founded by Yeo and his wife, is under the ZACD Group, where Yeo and his wife are controlling shareholders.
A strata-certified plan of The Alexcier showed that there were supposed to be only eight storeys and one basement in the multi-use light industrial B1 building.
It was built by local developer Chiu Teng Group in 2005.
Yeo, who is represented by lawyer S. Balamurugan of K&L Gates Straits Law, asked the court for his case to be adjourned for eight weeks, as the alleged offences took place between 2008 and 2009, and his lawyer would need time to collate the relevant documents.
Mr Balamurugan told the court that he would also be making written representations to BCA, URA and SCDF, and asking for a Criminal Case Management session to sort out certain details of the case before it is heard again in June.
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