Lawyer’s father jailed for bribing Traffic Police clerk to leak accident victims’ contacts

SINGAPORE — For over two years, a legal executive bribed a Traffic Police clerk to obtain the contact numbers of 23 people involved in traffic accidents.

Once Gulzar Raja Singh Sandhu got the contact details from the clerk, Madam Khatijah A Manap, he would cold-call these accident victims and on some occasions, offered the services of his daughter, a lawyer at Clifford Law LLP.

On Friday (Nov 9), Raja, 71, who is no longer working for the law firm, was handed an 18-week jail sentence after he pleaded guilty to 11 corruption charges and to contravening the Official Secrets Act.

Another 22 other charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

Madam Khatijah, 63, was sentenced to 18 weeks' jail in 2016 for her role in similar offences, which took place between 2010 and 2013.

Raja’s misdeeds were uncovered in 2013 after a traffic accident victim, who was contacted by Madam Khatijah twice in two years for separate accidents, complained to a senior Traffic Police officer.

The court heard that Raja first met Madam Khatijah in 2008 after she was involved in a traffic accident herself. She was then introduced to Raja's daughter, Ms Viviene Sandhu, and later managed to receive a payout from her accident claims in 2010.

On Clifford Law's website, it is stated that Ms Sandhu's main area of expertise is insurance litigation, and she has represented many insured claimants who were involved in ship collisions, motor accidents and fatal accidents, among others in her 20-year career.

Raja was then in charge of meeting and interviewing clients at Clifford Law.

Sometime in late 2010, he approached Madam Khatijah with the idea of getting her to sell the particulars of traffic accident victims, and for each successful contact who eventually engaged Clifford Law, she would be paid S$200.

The two would then take turns to contact the accident victims and ask them if they wanted to file a compensation claim.

At first, Raja paid Madam Khatijah in cash, but later, he would sometimes transfer the money to her bank account, and the sum amounted to at least S$2,500. Investigations were unable to ascertain how much cash she received.

Calling for an 18-week jail term for Raja, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Eugene Sng said that the case had the potential to cause public disquiet because "the public expects that personal particulars provided to the authorities will be kept confidential".

While Raja was not a public servant, he had initiated the arrangement knowing Madam Khatijah was one, DPP Sng said.

The prosecutor also noted that the offences would not have taken place if not for Raja.

In his mitigation plea, defence lawyer Amolat Singh mentioned his client's old age and the toll of the proceedings on his health. He asked for a jail term of five weeks.

However, DPP Sng said that 18 weeks is not long, and there is no evidence that Raja will suffer significant hardship or deterioration in health while in prison.

Raja’s jail sentence will start immediately.

For each corruption charge, he could have been jailed up to five years, or fined up to S$100,000.

The maximum penalty for each charge of receiving information protected under the Official Secrets Act is two years’ jail and a fine of up to S$2,000.