Man pleads guilty to bribing agent to under-report weight of baggage containing his gold

SINGAPORE — A 37-year-old man with a side business of purchasing gold here to be sold in Chennai, India, pleaded guilty on Friday (Sept 20) to bribing a customer service associate at Changi Airport to aid his business. 

Gopal Krishna Raju, an Indian national who was working as a manager in a food processing company, bribed Patel Hiteshkumar Chandubhai, who is also a 37-year-old Indian national, on at least 10 occasions. 

Patel’s role was to under-report the baggage weight of Tigerair passengers who agreed to help Gopal ferry the gold in their luggage. 

From January 2015 to November 2016, Patel worked for logistics service provider UBTS, which supplies manpower to SATS, the primary ground-handling service provider at Changi Airport. 

His responsibilities included assisting passengers at the boarding gates and check-in counters for Tigerair flights.

The two became acquainted through mutual friends and sometime in early January 2016, Patel was approached by the accused to help him under-report the weight of select passengers’ baggage in the check-in system to avoid excess baggage charges. 

He agreed and was promised sums of money and free meals in return. 

The court heard that Gopal would convince friends or strangers who were heading to Chennai to pass gold to relatives there. They would receive monetary rewards for their effort. 

Deputy Public Prosecutor David Koh said Gopal would go to Changi Airport 15 to 20 times a month to look for passengers who were willing to carry gold for him.

Once Gopal convinced someone to ferry the gold, he would contact Patel to check if he was working at the check-in counter on the day the passenger was travelling. 

If Patel was, he would inform Gopal which counter to go to on that day. Patel would then look out for the passenger Gopal was accompanying and under-report the weight of his bag if it exceeded the baggage weight limit. 

At the time of the incidents, the rate of excess baggage charges for Tigerair flights was S$25 per kilogramme of excess baggage. 

Gopal would then invite Patel out for a meal, usually to a restaurant in Little India. He rewarded Patel with sums between S$80 and S$150, with a total of at least S$800 exchanged over 10 months. 

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 in Changi Airport.

That report said that persons would approach passengers and offer for them to have their excess baggage charges waived if the passengers paid them cash, which was lower than the official rates.

Patel was also charged with corruption, jailed for eight weeks and ordered to pay a penalty of S$800.

At least two other men had also been jailed for similar offences. Indian national Ayyadurai Karunanithi, 47, who also worked for UBTS, was jailed for nine weeks and ordered to pay a penalty of S$500.

Singaporean Gerizim Kirubai Raj Deved, 35, who worked for Sats Asia Pacific Star, was sentenced to seven weeks in jail and ordered to pay a penalty of S$630.

The prosecution has asked for Gopal to be jailed for eight weeks.