SINGAPORE — Correcting the misperception that corruption in the private sector is usually punished with a fine, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon made it clear that the manner in which graft is committed is what determines sentencing.

In a written judgment issued today (April 29), he said with governments outsourcing public services, there is an increasing need to hold the private sector accountable for the public services they are responsible for delivering.

CJ Menon also set out the general framework for sentencing in the three broad types of corruption he identified.

Those who solicit bribes by threatening to withhold the legitimate rights of others can expect to be sent behind bars, he said. The same goes for those who pocket sops in return for not discharging his duty.

As for someone who accepts kickbacks for conferring benefits, the specific facts of the case will determine whether the custodial threshold is crossed, he added.

The guidelines came in a case where CJ Menon tripled the two-month jail sentence handed to Syed Mostofa Romel, a marine surveyor who threatened to classify a vessel as having high-risk safety breaches that would stop it from berthing, if the captain did not line his pocket.

Unknown to the 50-year-old Bangladeshi, the ship’s captain blew the whistle on him and the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau set up a sting operation to nab him. The agency prepared the same vessel with some high-risk defects when it returned about two weeks later, but Romel accepted bribes to turn a blind eye to the problems.

Referring to Romel’s first offence, CJ Menon said “this type of corruption goes against some of the core values that we as a nation and a people stand for and it undermines the collective effort of our society to institutionalise a zero-tolerance culture towards corruption”.

He added: “It also destroys the notion that business in Singapore is clean and transparent and that rules are there for good reason rather than to give people in whom discretion is vested or upon whom duties are placed, opportunities to have their palms greased and their pockets lined. In such cases, all would-be offenders must be warned that such acts, which undermine legitimate rights, will not be tolerated and will be severely dealt with.”

Given that Singapore must compete globally for investments, and a study finding that a 1 per cent uptick in corruption levels reduced growth rate by about 0.72 per cent, CJ Menon said: “Clean and honest dealing is one of our key competitive advantages and corruption compromises the predictability and openness which Singapore offers and investors have come to expect. This is a hard won prize achieved through our collective efforts as a society and we must not allow these to be undone.”

On why he allowed the prosecution’s appeal against Romel’s “manifestly inadequate” sentence, CJ Menon said the trial judge failed to appreciate the type of corruption involved in the case and the safety risks it entailed.

He also disagreed with the trial judge’s classification of Romel as a first-time offender and the undue weight given to his guilty plea.

“It was purely fortuitous that he had not been caught earlier,” he said.

The case also had several aggravating factors, including the potential loss of confidence in the maritime industry “as the economic ramifications would be considerable if corruption were allowed to take root”. Romel’s acts were also premeditated and deliberate, he added.