SINGAPORE - A senior security officer allegedly obtained at least $4,750 in bribes over 32 occasions from employees of a shipping company, said to be members of a syndicate linked to contraband cigarettes.

       In a statement, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau said that Ahmad Khamis allegedly did so in exchange for allowing the syndicate members to transport the contraband cigarettes past a security post at Chevron Penjuru Terminal into Singapore.

       Ahmad, 64, who was working for Pico Guards at the time, is accused of committing the offences between 2019 and 2022. He is said to have obtained the money from Abdul Rahman Abdul Wahab, Vadivalu Dharman, Theku Raja Suresh and Roslan Selamat, who were then working for Eng Hup Shipping.

       Ahmad is also alleged to have intentionally helped Roslan and one Mohd Salleh Ahmad to deal with an unknown quantity of duty-unpaid cigarettes by allowing a buggy loaded with them to pass a security checkpoint on fuel company Chevron Singapore’s Jalan Buroh premises, near Jurong Port Road, at around 3am on Dec 24, 2022.

       On Nov 22, 2024, Ahmad was handed 13 graft charges and two other charges under the Customs Act linked to the contraband cigarettes. He is expected to plead guilty on Jan 3, 2025.

       Roslan, 65, was handed four graft charges involving $1,000 in total and two charges under the Customs Act.

       He allegedly engaged in a conspiracy with Abdul Rahman, Vadivalu and Theku to give the bribes to Ahmad in 2022.

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       Theku, 41, was charged with four counts of corruption involving $700 in total.

       He is accused of engaging in a conspiracy with Vadivalu, Abdul Rahman, Roslan and one Rathnakumar Deepan to give the bribes to Ahmad between 2020 and 2022.

       The cases involving Theku and Roslan have been adjourned to December.

       Court documents did not disclose the outcome of the cases involving Abdul Rahman, Vadivalu, Rathnakumar and Salleh.

       For each count of corruption, an offender can be jailed for up to five years and fined up to $100,000.