Airport technician abuses pass to enter transit area nearly 50 times
A technician working at the airport abused his pass, using it to enter the transit area to buy duty-free items.
Wang Chong, 23, would buy cosmetics, bags and food at an additional 10 per cent staff discount, then sell the items online for profit.
Yesterday, the Chinese national who worked for Beumer Group was jailed for three weeks and fined $8,000.
He was issued an Airport Seasonal Pass as part of his job, allowing him to enter restricted areas within Changi Airport, but only for official duties or business.
But on Jan 15, the police found out that Wang had misused his pass to enter the Changi Airport transit area when he had no business being there.
Investigations found that he entered the Terminal 2 departure transit area without a valid reason at least 48 times from March 28 to Nov 20 last year.
He primarily bought cosmetics from the shops there, delivering it to a friend in China to sell online for a profit of about $20 for each item.
It is not known how many items he sold in this fashion or how much he profited.
Wang was convicted yesterday on eight counts of failure to comply with directions under the Protected Area and Protected Places Act.
Another 40 similar charges were taken into consideration.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Lee Zu Zhao asked for a short jail term for Wang, with an $8,000 fine as he profited by abusing his privilege.
But Wang, who was unrepresented, told the court through an interpreter that he committed the offences only to support his family.
ABUSED POSITION
He also said he did not work for three months when he was being investigated and had time to reflect on his actions during the two weeks that he has been in remand.
But District Judge Ng Peng Hong said Wang abused his position, taking advantage of the opportunity to profit.
Wang will be spending an additional 16 days in jail in lieu of the fine that he did not pay. For each charge, he could have been jailed for up to two years, or fined up to $1,000, or both.
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