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Cop who accepted bribes gets more than 30 months’ jail

SINGAPORE — A police officer was sentenced to more than 30 months’ jail on Thursday (Oct 13) after he was convicted of accepting bribes from a Filipino suspect who was trying to avoid being charged with taking upskirt videos.

SINGAPORE — A police officer was sentenced to more than 30 months’ jail on Thursday (Oct 13) after he was convicted of accepting bribes from a Filipino suspect who was trying to avoid being charged with taking upskirt videos.

Staff Sergeant Woo Poh Liang, 29, had pleaded guilty last month to two corruption charges as well as six unrelated charges of buying illegal 4D lottery tickets, placing bets with a bookmaker on the 2014 World Cup and acting as a runner for a bookmaker.

Another 12 charges were taken into consideration when Woo — who has been suspended from the police force since Jan 29 last year — was sentenced.

District Judge Kamala Ponnampalam sentenced Woo to a total of 31 months, four weeks’ jail, a fine of S$20,000 and a penalty of S$35,000. The S$20,000 fine — apart from the jail term — was for acting as a bookmaker, while the penalty of S$35,000 is for the two corruption offences.

The court had previously heard that in July 2014, Woo took over the investigations into Beltran Angelo Salvador’s case. The latter had been caught red-handed while taking upskirt videos at Jurong East MRT station.

On Sept 10 that year, Woo recorded a statement from Beltran, who was working in Singapore and held an employment pass.

Although a large number of upskirt videos/photos were found on Beltran’s devices, Woo suggested that Beltran wrote in his statement that he had taken fewer than five of those videos/photos in Singapore.

Even though Beltran knew that he had taken more than five upskirt videos in Singapore, he went along with Woo’s suggestion since the Filipino understood that the policeman was trying to do something favourable for him.

On Sept 16, Beltran gave Woo a psychiatric report and said his case was very serious. Woo asked Beltran if they could trust each other, and the latter said “yes”.

Woo, who said his father had cancer, asked Beltran for S$100,000.

When Beltran said he had only S$35,000 in his bank accounts, Woo asked him to hand over all the money he had.

When Beltran said he would have to withdraw the money from the bank the next day, Woo asked for S$25,000 to be given in S$1,000 bills.

Beltran agreed as he knew Woo would help him to avoid being charged.

The next day, Beltran withdrew S$25,000 from a bank account, as well as another S$10,000 from a separate bank account, which he had intended to give his wife so she could take their children out of Singapore.

Beltran then handed S$25,000 to Woo in an envelope at a taxi stand on that day.

Later that day, Beltran messaged Woo, informing him that he needed to travel to the United States for training the following week.

However, when the two met at the police station, Woo told Beltran hat he could not get his passport back.

Woo, who later took Beltran to an interview room, asked him how much money he had.

When the latter said he had S$10,000 left, Woo asked for the money. Beltran then handed over the money, and was told that he had a “90 to 95 per cent per chance of getting a warning”.

On that day, Woo told his supervisor that he was very angry with Beltran for calling him several times, and wanted to charge the Filipino.

Based on his experience, Woo knew that given Beltran’s statement which said fewer than five of the upskirt videos were taken in Singapore, his supervisor would probably ask Woo to recommend that Beltran be given a warning.

Woo’s supervisor did so, but the Attorney-General’s Chambers did not accept the recommendation.

On Sept 18, Woo told Beltran that he would be charged, but would help him to get a lighter sentence.

A week later, Beltran, acting on his lawyer’s advice, complained to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) about Woo’s conduct.

Separately, the CPIB revealed that Woo had committed a number of illegal betting offences.

Its investigations revealed that in May 2014, just before the 2014 Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup, Woo decided to be an illegal online bookmaker to earn some money.

On June 23 that year, Woo acted as a bookmaker by accepting a bet of S$500 using a website in forecasting the results of the tournament.

He ended up earning 80 per cent of the total losses suffered by the bettor.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Norman Yew, who described Woo as a “corrupt police officer”, said: “The bribe obtained by (Woo) also appears to be the largest in Singapore’s history with regard to police officers receiving monetary bribes.”

In mitigation, defence lawyer Mr Nakoorsha A.K, who is acting on a pro-bono basis, noted that Woo’s father suffers from serious illnesses, including kidney failure and nasal cancer. This has taken an “emotional and financial toll” on Woo, the lawyer added.

In sentencing, District Judge Ponnampalam said this case, which involved a corrupt police office, had caused “irreparable damage” to the law enforcement system.

“(This case has) also lowered Singapore’s standing as a corrupt-free country,” she added.

 

CORRECTION: In an earlier version of this story, we misspelt the name of lawyer Nakoorsha A K. We apologise for the error. 

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