SINGAPORE: Caught with a pair of handcuffs, a man tried to bribe his way out of a potential police investigation.
Chen Dongliang even tried to put S$40 (US$31) of "coffee money" into a police officer's pocket during the 2021 incident.
The 35-year-old was sentenced to three months and three weeks' jail on Monday (Jun 16) after he pleaded guilty to a charge of graft.
Another charge of graft, relating to Chen bribing an auxiliary police officer with S$750 to avoid enforcement action for peddling sex enhancement drugs, was taken into consideration for sentencing.
Chen, who is from China, had initially claimed trial but decided to plead guilty on its first day. He still has one charge of causing hurt in an unrelated incident in May this year pending before the court.
On May 26, 2021, a member of the public called the police saying that he saw a man with handcuffs at the back lane in Geylang.
Two police officers responded to the report and arrived to see Chen sitting under a tree at the back lane of 36 Lorong 31 Geylang around 1pm.
The officers approached him to conduct a spot check and found the pair of handcuffs.
When asked why he had the handcuffs, Chen replied that it belonged to his girlfriend, who had left Singapore. He claimed that he took out the handcuffs to dispose of them.
The officer said that Chen was not allowed to be holding on to handcuffs.
It is an offence in general for anyone to carry or be posessing handcuffs in public without lawful authority.
The officer also told Chen that he would be reporting this to his superiors on whether Chen would be taken to the police station to have his statement recorded.
On hearing this, the man became "agitated and uneasy", the prosecution said.
He took out S$40, comprising four pieces of S$10 notes, and shoved the money at the officer. He told the officer in Mandarin, "Monies for you all to drink coffee", the prosecution added.
The officer rejected the money but Chen was undeterred. He repeatedly tried to offer the money, telling the officer, "I know you all very tired, take the monies to drink coffee", and to "let me go this once".
The officer asked if Chen was trying to bribe him and asked him to sit down.
Instead of complying, he lunged forward and tried to put the money into the pocket of the officer's pants.
As the second officer held Chen back by his shoulder and arm, the first officer told Chen that his actions amounted to bribery of a police officer and warned him that he would be arrested if he repeated his actions, but Chen tried to put the money into his pocket again.
In total, Chen tried to bribe the police officer no less than four times and was captured doing so on the officer's body-worn camera. He was later arrested.
In mitigation, Chen's lawyer John Koh of law firm Avalon Law Corporation compared his client's case to past cases to show that his client had not devised a scheme of corruption, but had offered the bribe on the "spur of the moment".
Mr Koh sought eight to 10 weeks' jail for his client.
For offering gratification, an offender can be jailed up to five years or fined up to S$100,000, or both.
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Chen Dongliang even tried to put S$40 (US$31) of "coffee money" into a police officer's pocket during the 2021 incident.
The 35-year-old was sentenced to three months and three weeks' jail on Monday (Jun 16) after he pleaded guilty to a charge of graft.
Another charge of graft, relating to Chen bribing an auxiliary police officer with S$750 to avoid enforcement action for peddling sex enhancement drugs, was taken into consideration for sentencing.
Chen, who is from China, had initially claimed trial but decided to plead guilty on its first day. He still has one charge of causing hurt in an unrelated incident in May this year pending before the court.
CLAIMED HANDCUFFS BELONGED TO GIRLFRIEND
On May 26, 2021, a member of the public called the police saying that he saw a man with handcuffs at the back lane in Geylang.
Two police officers responded to the report and arrived to see Chen sitting under a tree at the back lane of 36 Lorong 31 Geylang around 1pm.
The officers approached him to conduct a spot check and found the pair of handcuffs.
When asked why he had the handcuffs, Chen replied that it belonged to his girlfriend, who had left Singapore. He claimed that he took out the handcuffs to dispose of them.
The officer said that Chen was not allowed to be holding on to handcuffs.
It is an offence in general for anyone to carry or be posessing handcuffs in public without lawful authority.
The officer also told Chen that he would be reporting this to his superiors on whether Chen would be taken to the police station to have his statement recorded.
On hearing this, the man became "agitated and uneasy", the prosecution said.
He took out S$40, comprising four pieces of S$10 notes, and shoved the money at the officer. He told the officer in Mandarin, "Monies for you all to drink coffee", the prosecution added.
The officer rejected the money but Chen was undeterred. He repeatedly tried to offer the money, telling the officer, "I know you all very tired, take the monies to drink coffee", and to "let me go this once".
The officer asked if Chen was trying to bribe him and asked him to sit down.
Instead of complying, he lunged forward and tried to put the money into the pocket of the officer's pants.
As the second officer held Chen back by his shoulder and arm, the first officer told Chen that his actions amounted to bribery of a police officer and warned him that he would be arrested if he repeated his actions, but Chen tried to put the money into his pocket again.
In total, Chen tried to bribe the police officer no less than four times and was captured doing so on the officer's body-worn camera. He was later arrested.
In mitigation, Chen's lawyer John Koh of law firm Avalon Law Corporation compared his client's case to past cases to show that his client had not devised a scheme of corruption, but had offered the bribe on the "spur of the moment".
Mr Koh sought eight to 10 weeks' jail for his client.
For offering gratification, an offender can be jailed up to five years or fined up to S$100,000, or both.
Continue reading...