Additional Corruption and Cheating Offences for Police Officer

On 26 January 2024, Poo Tze Chiang (“Poo”) (符志强, 46-year-old male Singaporean), a Police Officer of the Singapore Police Force (“SPF”) at the material time, faced additional corruption and cheating charges in Court. Poo was earlier charged on 22 November 2022 for allegedly committing corruption and obstruction of justice offences. Another individual, Chen Guangyun (“Chen”) (陈光云, 37-year-old male Chinese National) was also charged in connection to Poo’s alleged offences.

Alleged Corruption Offences

2. It is alleged that, on three occasions between July and October 2019, Poo corruptly obtained, for himself or for the benefit of an unknown SPF officer, gratifications totalling S$18,000 from Chen, who was being investigated for offences under the Immigration Act. These gratifications were allegedly meant as inducements for Poo, or the said SPF officer, to help Chen reduce punishment or avoid prosecution for these offences.

3. It is further alleged that, over six other occasions between August 2019 and January 2020, Poo corruptly obtained further gratifications totalling S$18,000 from Chen as an inducement to help Chen remain in Singapore after being convicted of a criminal offence.

4. For their alleged actions, Poo and Chen each face four charges for offences punishable under Section 6(a) and 6(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act respectively, of which one charge is amalgamated under Section 124(4) of the Criminal Procedure Code read with Section 124(8)(a)(ii) of the same Code.

Alleged Cheating Offence

5. Sometime in September 2020, Poo was alleged to have knowingly deceived Chen into believing that Poo required S$10,000 to apply to two Singapore government agencies for Chen to be granted permission to return to Singapore. As such, Chen was induced to pay S$10,000 to Poo. For his action, Poo faces one additional charge for an offence punishable under Section 420 of the Penal Code.

6. Singapore adopts a strict zero-tolerance approach towards corruption. Any person convicted of a corruption offence under Section 6 of the Prevention of Corruption Act can be fined up to S$100,000 or sentenced to imprisonment of up to five years or to both. Any person convicted of an offence under Section 420 of the Penal Code can be sentenced to imprisonment of up to 10 years, and also be liable to a fine.

7. The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) looks into all corruption-related complaints and reports, including anonymous ones, and can be reached via the following channels:

a) Lodge an e-Complaint;
b) Email us at report@cpib.gov.sg; 
c) Call the Duty Officer at 1800-376-0000; or
d) Write to us at the CPIB Headquarters @ 2 Lengkok Bahru, S159047.

8. Where possible, the report should include the following information:

a) Where, when and how did the alleged corrupt act happen?
b) Who was involved and what were their roles?
c) What was the bribe given and the favour shown?

Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau