SINGAPORE - A police officer charged with receiving $32,500 in bribes has been handed five more charges, allegedly for obtaining another $36,000 in bribes from an immigration offender.
Aside from the bribe, the police officer, Poo Tze Chiang, 46, is said to have cheated the offender of $10,000 by lying to him and saying that it was to make applications to government agencies about his case.
Poo, who was charged in Nov 2022 with seven counts of corruption and three counts of obstruction of justice, was on Jan 26 handed four more charges of corruption and one charge of cheating. He now faces 15 charges.
The immigration offender who allegedly gave him the bribe, Chinese national Chen Guangyun, 37, was also charged with four counts of corruption.
Poo, a station inspector, has been interdicted since Dec 7, 2020.
Between July 2019 and October 2019, Poo purportedly obtained bribes totalling $18,000 for himself or another unknown police officer from Chen, who was being investigated for offences under the Immigration Act.
The money was allegedly meant as inducement for Poo, or the other police officer, to help Chen reduce punishment or avoid prosecution for the offences.
Get a round-up of the top stories to start your day
Thank you!
Sign up
By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and T&Cs.
Also, between August 2019 and January 2020, Poo is said to have received another $18,000 from Chen to help the latter remain in Singapore after being convicted of a criminal offence.
These offences were not specified, but Chen was eventually convicted and repatriated to China, said a police prosecutor in court on Jan 26. Charge sheets state Chen was sent out of Singapore in May 2020.
In September 2020, Poo also allegedly cheated Chen of $10,000, lying to him that Poo required the sum to apply to two Singapore government agencies for Chen to be granted permission to return to Singapore.
Chen purportedly entered Singapore again in September 2022 without a valid pass, for which he was charged with two fresh offences under the Immigration Act. This case is still pending.
In addition, Chen faces two counts of being drunk and incapable of taking care of himself in a public place, and punching another man in the wee hours of April 8, 2023, at 525 Serangoon Road.
Between 2019 and 2020, Poo is also said to have received bribes totalling $32,500 from two other men, Cordell Chan Yuen Kwang and Wang Huate.
The money was allegedly given so that Poo would provide information and assistance to Chan and Wang regarding police investigations against them.
Jail for man who helped 2 others give red packet containing $2,000 bribe to cop
Jail for man who worked with auxiliary cop to get bribes from sex drug peddler
Once in Aug 2020, Poo allegedly flashed his police warrant card at two police officers patrolling in the area, so that they would not conduct checks on Chan and Wang.
A nightspot owner, Ng Chuan Seng, 52, who helped two individuals to pass a red packet with a $2,000 bribe to Poo, was sentenced to five weeks’ jail in Sep 2023.
A police spokesman previously said the alleged offences had been uncovered through the police’s own internal checks, and the case was then referred to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB).
Poo is represented by Mr K. Jayakumar Naidu of Jay Law Corporation. Chen’s lawyer is Mr L. G. Robert.
Their cases have been slated for pre-trial conferences in February.
The CPIB said that Singapore adopts a strict zero-tolerance approach towards corruption.
If convicted of corruption, Poo and Chen can each be jailed for up to five years and fined up to $100,000 per charge.
The offence of cheating carries a jail term of up to 10 years and a fine.
ICA inspector allegedly received sexual favours from 6 men who needed help to remain in S’pore
Jail for man who gave $125k in bribes to then Sats officer
Unlock unlimited access to ST exclusive content, insights and analyses
ST One Digital - Annual
$9.90 $4.95 /month
Get offer
$59.40 for the first year and $118.80 per year thereafter.
ST One Digital - Monthly
29.90 $9.90 /month
Subscribe today
No lock-in contract
Unlock more knowledge, unlock more benefits
New feature: Stay up to date on important topics and follow your favourite writers with myST All subscriber-only content on ST app and straitstimes.com Easy access any time via ST app on one mobile device
Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
State Courts Crime Police
Facebook Telegram More Whatsapp Linkedin Twitter FB Messenger Email Print Purchase Article Copy permalink https://str.sg/JWhmR
Read this subscriber-only article for free!
Just sign up for a free account and log in to continue reading.
Cop who allegedly received bribes handed extra corruption, cheating charges
Sign up
Already have an account? Log in.
All done! This article is now fully available for you
Cop who allegedly received bribes handed extra corruption, cheating charges
Read now
Please verify your e-mail to read this subscriber-only article in full
Cop who allegedly received bribes handed extra corruption, cheating charges
Resend verification e-mail
The gift link for this subscriber-only article has expired.
Get unlimited access to all stories at $0.99/month for the first 3 months.
Subscribe now
You have reached your limit of subscriber-only articles this month.
Get unlimited access to all stories at $0.99/month for the first 3 months.
Subscribe now
Read and win!
Read 3 articles and stand to win rewards
Let's go! Terms & conditions apply
Frequently asked questions
Good job, you've read 3 articles today!
Spin the wheel now
Let's go! Terms & conditions apply
Frequently asked questions