8 weeks’ jail for man who bribed agent at Changi Airport to under-report weight of gold-laden baggage

SINGAPORE — A 37-year-old man who bribed an associate working in customer service at Changi Airport was sentenced to eight weeks in jail on Monday (Sept 23).

Gopal Krishna Raju, an Indian national who was working as a manager in a food processing company, bribed Patel Hiteshkumar Chandubhai, a 37-year-old Indian national who worked at the airport, on at least 10 occasions over a period of 10 months from January 2016.

Gopal did it to aid his side business of buying gold here to be sold in Chennai, India.

Patel’s role was to under-report the baggage weight of Tigerair passengers who agreed to help Gopal ferry the gold in their luggage — to avoid excess baggage charges. He has been jailed eight weeks for receiving the bribes, which amounted to at least S$800.

In sentencing Gopal, District Judge John Ng said that deterrence was a key consideration as such acts can be carried out quite easily at the airport because of the volume of travel and the size of the workforce at the airport. He added that it was important to “protect the hard-won reputation of our airport”.

When asking the judge to impose the eight-week sentence on Gopal, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) David Koh had argued that the harm in this case “goes far beyond” the lost excess baggage fees.

Instead, there is “potential detriment to confidence in the administration of public services in Singapore”, the reputation of a well-known key strategic industry, and even to air safety, DPP Koh said.

He elaborated that the aviation industry is one that’ is “crucial to Singapore’s soft power and strategic interests”.

Considering Changi Airport’s “stellar reputation” over the years and Singapore’s reputation as a country that has no tolerance for corrupt activity, DPP Koh added: “Any corrupt activity that takes place within the context of the air travel industry therefore threatens to severely undermine the reputation and national interests of Singapore.”

MODUS OPERANDI

The court heard that Gopal would go to Changi Airport 15 to 20 times a month to convince friends or strangers who were heading to Chennai to hand over gold to relatives there. They would receive monetary rewards for their efforts.

Once Gopal got a willing party, he would contact Patel to check if he would be working at the check-in counter. Patel was an employee of logistics service provider UBTS, whose responsibilities included assisting passengers at the boarding gates and check-in counters for Tigerair flights. 

If Patel was at the airport, he would inform Gopal which counter to go to for check-ins. Patel would then under-report the weight of the bags carrying the gold to help him evade excess baggage charges.

At the time of the incidents, the rate of excess baggage charges for Tigerair flights was S$25 for each kilogramme of excess baggage. In return, Patel was promised sums of money and free meals.

The offences were uncovered as a result of investigations arising from a news report published by The New Paper on July 13 last year, about a baggage-touting syndicate operating at Changi Airport. The report said that persons would approach passengers and offer to waive their excess baggage charges for a fee lower than the official rates.

‘RISK’ OF PASSENGERS THINKING IT'S ‘BUSINESS AS USUAL’

From the way Gopal and Patel had committed their crime, DPP Koh argued that there was a “risk” of passengers who had their baggage weight under-reported thinking that corrupt activity was “business as usual” in Singapore. This impression “may even spread this reputation to their own communities”, he said.

“This risk is particularly acute given that the receiver, Patel, was a customer service associate who was performing a frontline function. To the ordinary traveller, he serves as the public face of the airport and the country,” DPP Koh said.

He added that airlines charge fees for excess baggage weight so that they will be aware, well in advance of the flight, of the likely baggage load on the plane, which ensures proper planning for the purposes of air safety.

Should such corruption become “endemic”, there is a risk of “serious potential harm in air safety”, he said.

“At the very least, an inability to trust the reported baggage weight at the stage of check-in would likely result in higher costs on the part of the airline, which would have to conduct additional checks to ensure that the load of the plane is properly accounted for.” 

Gopal could have been jailed up to five years, fined up to S$100,000, or both, for bribing the agent.