Stories Of Integrity

No one is too young or too old to contribute in the fight against corruption. Everyone has a part to play in ensuring that the venal does not take root in our society.

On 27 January 2014, Muhammad Danial Bin Anwar, a Polytechnic student then, encountered a young boy who was robbed of his handphone. The boy asked Muhammad Danial Bin Anwar for help. The latter called the Police and the two decided to follow the robber. Muhammad Danial Bin Anwar asked another passer-by, then-Secondary School student Muhamad Danial Harith Bin Eaddy (who coincidentally shared the same name) for help in apprehending the robber.

The robber retaliated and attacked Muhamad Danial Harith when he tried to stop him. The robber offered Muhamad Danial Harith S$20 as medical compensation for hurting him but the offer was rejected. The robber then offered him S$50 in exchange for not handing him over to the Police. Once again, Muhamad Danial Harith rejected the offer. The robber managed to escape but he was finally stopped by the youths again. He attempted to bribe Muhammad Danial Bin Anwar this time with S$50 for his release before the Police arrived. Muhammad Danial Bin Anwar rejected the offer.

The robber was subsequently subdued by the Police. The case was referred by the Singapore Police Force to the CPIB. The accused was subsequently charged and sentenced to 4 weeks’ imprisonment for corruption with effect from 20 April 2015.

On 29 Dec 2013, a Malaysian National, was arrested by the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority of Singapore (ICA) as he did not have his travel documents upon check-in at Woodlands Checkpoint.

He was later found in possession of a sachet of white powdery substance and was referred to the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB). He was placed in the custody of ICA Corporal Abdul Hakim Bin Abdul Razak and CNB Sergeant Tan Jian Bao.

While in the custody of the officers, the man made two separate attempts to bribe ICA Corporal Hakim and CNB Sergeant Tan Jian Bao. He offered Hakim MYR$500 in return for releasing him from custody. He also offered SGT Tan Jian Bao MYR$800 as an inducement for not investigating him for the offence of unauthorized importation of controlled drugs. Both his offers were turned down by the officers.

The case was referred to CPIB for investigations, and the accused was charged and sentenced to 3 months’ imprisonment for corruption with effect from 31 Dec 2013.

On 23 January 2013, SGT Goh Wee Kian and SGT Tan Kai Xiang from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Singapore Police Force (SPF) were assigned to conduct street walker rounds in the Geylang vicinity to detect vice activities. As part of their rounds, both CID officers entered a lodging house where they proceeded to interview the occupants. During the interview, one of the occupants, a female Chinese National, first offered S$50 to SGT Goh Wee Kian so that he would not arrest her. When the bribe was rejected by SGT Goh, the woman proceeded to offer the monies in her handbag to SGT Tan Kai Xiang for the same favour. The woman was then placed under arrest for immigration-related offence as well as for bribing police officers.

The case was subsequently referred by the SPF to the CPIB for further investigations. The accused was sentenced to 10 weeks’ imprisonment for corruption on 14 October 2013.

On 31 May 2015, Higher Customs Officer (HCO) Siow Teck Ming from Singapore Customs encountered a female Chinese National who did not acquire a customs permit for an equipment she brought into Singapore for an exhibition. After HCO Siow Teck Ming advised her to engage a local declaring agent to obtain the necessary permit, she asked HCO Siow in Mandarin if she could give some money to solve the issue of not having a permit for the electronic equipment. HCO Siow rejected her offer and warned her about her potential action. She left the Singapore Customs Duty Office, only to return with a bribe of US$200 placed between the pages of a telephone directory to HCO Siow as an inducement for allowing the release of commercial goods worth U$10,210/- without a permit. HCO Siow turned down the bribe offer.

The case was referred by the Singapore Customs to the CPIB for investigations, and the accused was charged and sentenced to 3 weeks imprisonment with effect from 5 August 2015 for corruption.

On 9 September 2014, SGT Shreedurga D/O Selvarajan, SGT Mohamed Huzair S/O Mohamed Mustaq and SGT Muhammad Rasul Bin Ani from the Singapore Police Force (SPF) were on duty at Buffalo Road when they arrested two female foreigners for soliciting in a public place and for failure to comply with the conditions of their work permits. While they were being conveyed to the police station, one of the women offered S$1,000 to SGT Shreedurga D/O Selvarajan, in return for her release. The bribe was rejected and the amount was seized.

The case was subsequently referred by the SPF to the CPIB for investigations, and the accused was charged and sentenced to 4 weeks’ imprisonment with effect from 11 September 2014 for corruption. The Court ordered the S$1,000/- bribe seized to be forfeited to the State.

On 18 December 2013, Mr Abdul Wahab Bin Abdul Alim, a Senior Technician with Singapore PowerGrid Ltd, was supervising repair works of a damaged cable at Woodlands. He was approached by two individuals on separate occasions who offered him bribes amounting to S$300 to extend the replaced cable by an additional three metres without the proper approval from SP PowerGrid. Mr Abdul Wahab rejected both bribe attempts and subsequently informed his supervisor.

The case was subsequently referred to the CPIB for further investigations. The two accused persons were charged and convicted for corruption. One of them was sentenced to a fine of S$3,000, and the other accused was fined S$4,000 on 16 October 2014.

On 3 June 2014, SGT Mohammad Khairudin Bin Rosli, a Primary Screening Officer with the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority of Singapore (ICA) at Woodlands Checkpoint detected that a female Vietnamese national was trying to perform a ‘U-turn’ via Malaysia. He alerted his Duty Officer and motioned for the woman to stand behind him in the booth. While waiting for an auxiliary officer to escort the woman to the Duty Office, the woman took out a stack of money from her bag, and offered SGT Khairudin a bribe of S$50 to further grant her a visit pass into Singapore. SGT Khairudin rejected the bribe and the woman kept the money upon the arrival of the auxiliary officer. The incident was captured on CCTV.

The case was subsequently referred by the ICA to the CPIB for further investigations, and the accused was sentenced to 7 weeks’ imprisonment on 17 July 2014 for corruption.

On 3 June 2014, Port Inspector Sayri Mohamed Salleh (PI Sayri) from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) was informed by his superior to investigate if a ship within Singapore’s port limits was carrying out gas freeing activities which is a potential breach of port regulations. PI Sayri proceeded to board the aforementioned ship to speak to the ship master, a Chinese national. Upon questioning, the ship master admitted to the breach and offered PI Sayri a white envelope containing US$50 to US$60 so that PI Sayri could drop the case and refrain from carrying further investigations. PI Sayri rejected the bribe and subsequently reported the matter to his superiors.

The case was subsequently referred by the MPA to the CPIB for further investigations, and the accused person was sentenced to 4 weeks’ imprisonment on 4 September 2014 for corruption.

On 20 June 2013, Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) firefighter Sergeant Samuel Anandaraj Anthonyraj witnessed a traffic accident between a car and a taxi at the junction of Upper Serangoon Road and Hougang Avenue 2. When the motorist, who was driving under the influence of alcohol, tried to leave the scene, SGT Samuel stopped and asked him to step out of the car. SGT Samuel was then offered a bribe of S$1,000 by the drunk driver to allow him to settle the incident with the taxi driver on his own. SGT Samuel rejected the bribe and was subsequently requested by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) to proceed to the Traffic Police Headquarters to assist in the investigation.

The case was subsequently referred by the SPF to the CPIB for further investigations, and the accused was sentenced to 3 months’ imprisonment on 12 February 2014 for corruption.