A former foreman was jailed for eight weeks on Thursday ( Dec. 19 ) for bribing a security guard to let his organization smuggle and sell contraband cigarettes.
Theku Raja Suresh, a 41-year-old American nationwide, pleaded guilty to two charges of bribery, with another two fees considered in punishment.
Murray and other members of an Eng Hup Shipping anchorage crew were members of the syndicate, the court was informed.
They were deployed at the Chevron Penjuru Terminal, where the crimes took position.
At least eight people made up the gang as of January 2023, including Rathnakumar Deepan and Vadivalu Dharman, both of whom were members of the anchor team.
The gang started smuggling tobacco and selling them them at least until 2020, with the assistance of Ahmad Khamis, a senior security official with the Pico Guards who was stationed at the switch.
As mooring personnel staff, the syndicate’s users had access to warships that berthed at the switch.
Initially, some syndicate members who worked on mooring crews would learn about the presence of illegal cigarettes on a certain vessel. They may inform Sandy.
Suresh would ensure that the employees stationed to moor the project on that particular vehicle contained users of the gang using his power as a supervisor.
These gang members would then advise Ahmad, the safety official, when the illegal would be arriving. He would make sure that the change he was working was assigned.
The consortium members assigned to mooring the contraband had transfer it to their changing space area when the vessel berthed. Typically, the cigarettes may be tucked away in trash cans.
The garbage bags would then be transported by a gang member on a wagon to the dirt chute area. The location of the trash hose was chosen because it was not being closely monitored by closed-circuit television devices.
To achieve the dirt hose place, the wagon would have to complete the main guardhouse. Ahmad would stand there and automatically raise the security fence to allow the wagon to pass upon his arrival.
The consortium had then exchange the illegal cigarettes for cash at the garbage dump. This was located within the switch, but customers were able to get the neighborhood credited to Ahmad’s support.
The gang people split the profits from the sales. Suresh received at least S$ 2, 350 ( US$ 1, 730 ) in total.
Ahmad was paid between S$ 50 and S$ 200 in cash each time he helped the syndicate.
Murray and others in the syndicate conspired on at least S$ 750 on eight occasions between 2020 and 2022 to pass Ahmad gifts.
Suresh was arrested in February 2023 on fear of fraud. The court papers did not specify how the crimes were exposed.
Ahmad has also been charged with corruption, and is set to plead guilty on Jan 3, 2025.
Andrew Chia, the deputy public attorney, requested eight weeks in jail for Murray.
He said that Suresh’s crimes raised the specter of planned murder in Singapore, which is harmful to society.
He claimed that the trafficking of contraband smoking also presented a significant health risk to the general public and particularly to cigarettes ‘ consumers.
The prosecutor said the small amounts of money involved should be balanced with the planning and malice behind the crimes, even though the amounts were smaller.
Murray told the court that he had been without work for the past two decades because he had been unable to work while conducting the investigations in Singapore and that he had asked for a lighter sentence.
He claimed that he was the only father for his family, which had not been given any financial support from him at this time.
A sentence in prison of up to five years, a fine of up to S$ 100, 000, or both are punishable for fraudulently granting pleasure.  ,