Man jailed for bribing police officer, violating Official Secrets Act
After getting to know a police officer, a 61-year-old dispatch driver sought his help to get information on a group of gang members arrested by the police. He paid the officer $1,000 after viewing and receiving photos of a number of the gang members who were involved in a riot.
Lim Sua Huat was jailed a total of nine months and six weeks on Thursday (28 December) after he pleaded guilty in the State Courts to two corruption charges for bribing a police officer and one of receiving information under the Official Secrets Act (OSA). Four other similar charges were taken into consideration.
The court heard that Lim got to know police officer Terence Lam Guo Long sometime in 2008 or 2009 and stayed in contact with him.
On 15 October 2015, the police arrested 13 persons in connection with a case of rioting at Clive Road. One of them, Pua Kok Siong, told Lim’s employer Goh Siong Kiat about his arrest and asked if Goh could help him get a non-custodial sentence.
Goh approached Lim to find out who the investigating officer of the case was, and gave Lim $1,000 to ask the officer to be lenient.
Lim then called Lam and asked if he was aware of the Clive Road incident. Lam said his team had arrested those involved in the incident. Lim told Lam he wanted the photos of those arrested so that the head of one of the gangs involved in the fight could kick out the troublemakers.
Lam told Lim he would not send the photos to him, but offered to show them to Lim on his phone. They subsequently met sometime in October 2015 and Lim viewed the photos.
In December 2015, Lim met Lam again and gave him $500 to thank him for showing him the photos.
In January 2016, Lim asked Lam for photos of the younger individuals involved in the rioting incident, and this time, the officer acceded to his request. Lam sent five photos of the arrested men to Lim via WhatsApp. Lim gave Lam $500 for these photos.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Suhas Malhotra asked for a jail term of 11 months, saying that Lim had committed extremely serious offences, and that such offences could undermine the incorruptibility of public servants.
Lim’s offences were “particularly egregious” because they were meant to undermine ongoing criminal investigations and pervert the course of justice, Malhotra said. Offences like those committed by Lim have the potential to create the impression that offenders who know people with ‘connections’ can get leniency from the police during investigations, he added.
Lim was also the driving force behind the corruption offence because he offered the payment to Lam, added the DPP.
Lam has since resigned from the Singapore Police Force and was jailed seven months and six weeks in August this year for corruption and charges under the OSA.
In mitigation, Lim’s lawyer, Luke Lee, said Lim carried out his employer’s request but there was no further attempt to subvert the course of justice. The purpose of obtaining the photos was not to create further trouble but to forestall further trouble by removing the miscreants from the gang, Lee added. He asked for a jail term of five months and a fine for all the charges.
District Judge Ng Peng Hong agreed with the prosecution that Lim’s conduct had the intention to corrupt law and order. Sentencing Ng to a total of nine months and six weeks, the judge said Lim’s conduct was more culpable than that of Lam’s and deserved a heavier sentence.
DJ Ng allowed Lim to defer his jail term until 27 February next year so that he could spend the Chinese New Year with his family.
Anyone convicted of an offence under the OSA can be jailed up to two years and fined up to $2,000.
The maximum penalty for corruption is a jail term of up to five years and a fine of up to $100,000.
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