SINGAPORE: In exchange for sex and money, an Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer helped a female Chinese national to get arrested, thereby giving her access to special passes to extend her stay in Singapore.
On Monday (Aug 21), Teo Hwee Peng, 49, was sentenced to a total of 33 weeks’ in jail and a fine of S$2,634 (US$1,940). He was convicted of eight corruption charges in May.
Special passes, which are issued by the ICA or the Ministry of Manpower, allow foreigners to stay in Singapore for specific purposes, such as to assist in investigations or attend court proceedings.
In response to queries from TODAY, ICA said Teo has been suspended.
On Jul 29, 2018, Teo met Liang Qinglan, a prostitute, through a contact he had made when he was part of the ICA’s Intel Operations branch.
Some time between July and October 2018, Teo and Liang had sex at her home in Jurong West.
As Liang had overstayed but wanted to continue working in Singapore, she asked Teo to help her get a special pass and gave him a red packet of 188.88 yuan (S$35).
To do so, Teo gave an informant Liang’s address, who then tipped off another ICA officer. By having Liang arrested, she could get a special pass to continue staying in Singapore while assisting investigations.
Liang was eventually arrested on Oct 16, 2018, and obtained a special pass to stay in Singapore to assist ICA with investigations.
According to court documents, Liang later met Teo after she was released for dinner and gave him S$2,100 to S$2,200 for his help.
“Even after receiving a special pass, Liang continued to seek immigration help and advice from (Teo), which he provided,” said the prosecution, according to court documents.
Between October 2018 and July 2019, Teo also asked Liang to loan him a total of 7,000 yuan on four occasions.
However, Teo only repaid 5,000 yuan of that loan.
Teo was acquitted of one charge involving receiving a sexual favour from Liang as Liang’s evidence was unclear. He was also acquitted of three charges of graft involving another foreigner, Cheng Wenjuan, after she died of suicide in August 2021.
According to court documents, Teo argued that the red packet was a “symbolic gesture to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival”, denying that he had solicited any sexual services, gifts or money from Liang and Cheng.
He said he had taken the loans from Liang as he struggled to add money to his WeChat account, and it was “convenient to borrow money from Liang instead”.
In December 2021, Liang was sentenced to 25 weeks’ jail and a fine of S$8,000 after pleading guilty to three charges of corruption and one charge for offering sexual services online.
For each count of graft, Teo could have been jailed for up to five years and fined up to S$100,000.
This article was originally published in TODAY.