4 weeks' jail for man who offered $100 to Certis officer after he was caught littering
After learning that he would have to pay a $300 fine for throwing his cigarette butt into a drain, a construction worker offered $100 to an enforcement officer to let him go.
On Tuesday (July 26), Khan Mohammad Alamin, a 41-year-old Bangladeshi national, was sentenced to four weeks' jail for the offence which took place on Feb 3 this year.
He pleaded guilty to a corruption charge.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Louis Ngia told the court that at about 6pm, Mr Muhammad Raffli Holip, an officer with Certis who was on anti-littering patrol in the vicinity of Block 235 Choa Chu Kang Central, saw Khan throwing the cigarette butt.
Together with his colleague, he approached Khan to take down his particulars for the purpose of issuing him a notice to attend court.
Mr Raffli told Khan that he had committed a littering offence and asked for his work permit or identity card.
Said DPP Ngia: "The accused then apologised to Raffli, stating that it was his first time committing this offence. The accused pleaded for Raffli to give him a chance."
Mr Raffli warned Khan that the police would be called if he refused to cooperate.
When Khan asked about the penalty, he was told that for a first-time offence, it would be a fine of $300 and that he would have to attend court for subsequent offences.
Khan said he had no money and offered to give Mr Raffli $100 to let him go.
Despite Mr Raffli's explanation that he had to pay the fine to the Singapore Government, Khan took out two $50 notes from his wallet and offered them to Mr Raffli, stating "I $100 give, you excuse me".
Mr Raffli warned Khan that he was not allowed to offer money to him or his colleague, and told him to keep his money before they called the police.
Khan later admitted in investigations that he wanted Mr Raffli to accept the $100 so that the officer would not take down his particulars.
Speaking via a translator in court on Tuesday, Khan said in Bengali that he was remorseful. He came to Singapore to work and is the sole breadwinner in his family.
He added that this was his first offence and hoped that he could continue working here.
For corruption, Khan could have been fined up to $100,000, jailed for up to five years, or both.
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