SINGAPORE — A supervisor in a prison workshop previously charged in November last year with smuggling sedatives into jail for inmates was sentenced on Thursday (Jan 12) to four weeks’ jail. 

Calvin Ang Wei Sheng, 40, pleaded guilty to two charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Three other charges were taken into consideration for sentencing. 

Ang was also ordered to pay a penalty of S$1,200 for the bribes he received. 

The cases for the four inmates who were involved in the scheme are pending. 

WHAT HAPPENED 

The court heard that Ang was a workshop supervisor at New Hope Food Industries at the time of the offence. It is a bakery located within the prison where inmates are taught to make pastries. 

Due to his role, Ang was given access to the Changi Prison compound. As with any personnel entering or leaving the area, Ang had to undergo checks to ensure he did not bring in contraband items such as mobile phones and medication, 

Ang became friendly with an inmate, Ismail Musun Mollah, as they worked closely together at the bakery.

Sometime in August or September 2021, Ismail allegedly asked Ang to smuggle 100 Epam pills, a medicine with sedative effects used to treat insomnia and sleeping disorders, into the workshop for him. 

Epam is deemed as a contraband item by the prison authorities as it is not prescribed by the medical team there, court documents stated. 

Ismail was said to have offered him S$200 to purchase the medications, which cost S$50, and told Ang to keep the remaining S$150. 

Ang agreed to the request and bought the pills in Geylang, smuggled them into Changi Prison and delivered them to Ismail. 

After his first successful attempt, word spread among the inmates and Ang was approached by several other inmates with similar requests. 

The court heard that sometime in October 2021, Ang received S$300 from one Muhammad Shaifullah Ab Latif for smuggling 40 Epam pills into prison for him. 

Ang's offences only came to light when the smuggling was detected by prison authorities. Court documents did not say how they detected it. 

Ang was then referred to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau for further investigations. 

"LED THEM ASTRAY" 

Deputy Public Prosecutor Jaime Pang sought a sentence of between four and six weeks’ jail and a financial penalty for the bribes Ang accepted. 

He called Ang's offence an extremely serious one that had compromised the security of the prison. Moreover, the fact that Ang had received bribes from four different inmates on five separate occasions over a few months indicated the deliberate and repeated nature of his offending, he said. 

In response, Ang pleaded for leniency and asked for a chance to turn over a new leaf. 

In a separate plea, his family told the court that Ang has had lupus since he was 12. Lupus is an autoimmune disease where the body's immune system attacks healthy tissue and organs, causing inflammation and pain. 

Ang also tendered two letters from Tan Tock Seng Hospital and private clinic Chua Medical Centre in relation to his recent treatments of anxiety disorder and depression. 

While meting out her sentence, District Judge Janet Wang said that there was a considerable level of harm caused by his offences, as he had undermined the security of the prison system.  

She added that the items smuggled pose a potential health risk upon consumption and Ang had abused the privilege accorded to him to work in a gazetted environment. 

"Paradoxically as a trainer at the workshop, he should be training them (the inmates) positively. But he had led them astray," said District Judge Wang. 

Ang was terminated from his role in October 2021. 

Any person convicted of a corruption offence can be fined up to S$100,000 or be jailed for up to five years, or both.