ICA officer charged with corruption

[General Veers]

Updated: 09/04/2013 11:14 | By Channel NewsAsia

ICA officer charged with corruption

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SINGAPORE: An officer with the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority was on Wednesday charged with multiple counts of facilitating the granting of visit passes to foreigners in exchange for money.

Mohammed Mustaffa Mohabat Ali, a primary screening officer at Tuas Checkpoint, is accused of 22 counts of corruptly accepting money from Filipino and Vietnamese women. The visit passes would allow the women to stay in Singapore.

Mustaffa also faces seven counts of corruptly agreeing to accept gratification, four counts of corruptly giving gratification, and two counts of corruptly offering gratification.

The incidents took place between October 2010 and June 2011.

According to court documents, Mustaffa worked with one Philibert Tng Hai Swee.

Mustaffa's regular duties included assessing whether foreigners meet entry requirements, inspecting passports, and granting visit passes.

Tng allegedly drove these women through the checkpoint and would look for Mustaffa to grant the visit passes when he was on duty. The women were charged between S$250 and S$550 for each occasion.

Mustaffa also allegedly recruited three other ICA officers and one former ICA officer to help him. Mustaffa has been interdicted, while the three officers are no longer with ICA.

His case will be mentioned in court again on 25 September.

Mustaffa was unrepresented. Bail was set at S$10,000.

For corruptly accepting gratification, Mustaffa could be jailed five years and fined S$100,000. - CNA/ac

 

[hokkien]

Must be someone back stab him

 

[Awake]

ICA officer charged with accepting bribes from foreigners for extending their stay

The Straits Times
Wednesday, Sep 04, 2013

SINGAPORE - Mohammed Mustaffa Mohabat Ali allegedly helped foreigners prolong their stay in Singapore by facilitating the granting of visit passes. In return, he charged "fees" of between $250 and $550 from the foreigners, who were all women from Vietnam and the Philippines.

Get the full story from The Straits Times.

Here is the full press release from CPIB:

In mid-2011, the Corrupt Practices Investigations Bureau (CPIB) cracked a corruption case involving Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers who allegedly facilitated the granting of Visit Passes (VP) to assist foreigners in prolonging their stay in Singapore in return for monetary gains. The successful crackdown would not be possible without the assistance of the ICA, who worked closely with the CPIB when the case surfaced.

The accused, Mohammed Mustaffa Bin Mohabat Ali (Mustaffa), was attached to Tuas Checkpoint as a Primary Screening Officer whose duties included the assessing of whether foreigners meet entry requirements, inspecting travellers' passports and granting VP to visitors to enter and remain in Singapore.

Investigations revealed that between October 2010 to June 2011, the accused had allegedly accepted gratifications in return for granting VP to Filipino and Vietnamese women for their stay in Singapore. Mustaffa worked mainly with one Philibert Tng Hai Swee, who would refer the foreigners to him. Philibert would provide transportation to the foreigners, drive them through the checkpoint and seek out Mustaffa to grant the VP when he is on duty at the checkpoint. The foreigners would be charged fees between $250 and $550 for each occasion.

Mustaffa had also recruited three other ICA officers, namely Mohamed Nazrul Bin Noor Mohamed, Lukmanulhakim Bin Samsun and Ezhar Bin Kamis, and one former ICA officer, Nor Hidayat Bin Mohamed Hussain, to facilitate such illicit services. The three ICA officers are no longer in service with ICA.

Mustaffa, who has since been interdicted, will be charged in Court on 4 September 2013. There are 35 charges against him; 22 counts of corruptly accepting gratification and seven counts of corruptly agreeing to accept gratification under Section 6(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Chapter 241; four counts of corruptly giving gratification and two counts of corruptly offering gratification under Section 6(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Chapter 241. The respective charges for Mustaffa are attached for reference.

Singapore has always adopted a zero tolerance approach towards corruption and criminal activities. CPIB takes a serious view of any corrupt practices, and will not hesitate to take action against any party involved, even if they are public officers.

 

[Untouchables]

ICA officer faces 35 counts of corruption

"Nanbei !! I covered left side but right side kena pwned !!"

Elena Chong
The Straits Times
Saturday, Sep 07, 2013

SINGAPORE - AN IMMIGRATION and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) specialist who allegedly took bribes in exchange for visit passes into Singapore was charged with 35 counts of corruption on Wednesday.

Mohammed Mustaffa Mohabat Ali, 29, faces a fine of up to $100,000 and/or five years' jail on each charge.

He had been attached to Tuas Checkpoint as a primary screening officer.

His duties included inspecting travellers' passports and granting them visit passes into Singapore.

But between October 2010 and June 2011, he allegedly took bribes in return for issuing visit passes to Filipino and Vietnamese women who wanted to come here.

He worked mainly with one Philibert Tng Hai Swee.

The accomplice would drive the women through the checkpoint when Mustaffa was on duty, and then seek him out to grant the visit passes.

The foreigners would be charged between $250 and $550 each time.

Mustaffa faces 22 counts of accepting bribes totalling about $8,050 from the women, and seven counts of agreeing to accept at least $2,200.

But he did not just take bribes, he offered them as well.

He allegedly gave a total of $350 to three colleagues, who are no longer with the ICA, and a former ICA staff member to grant visit passes to the Filipinas.

He is also charged with offering two of them $50 each.

Mustaffa was arrested after the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said it had cracked a case in mid-2011 involving ICA officers who allegedly facilitated the granting of visit passes to foreigners in exchange for money.

In a statement, CPIB said Singapore has always adopted a zero- tolerance approach towards corruption and criminal activities.

"CPIB takes a serious view of any corrupt practice, and will not hesitate to take action against any party involved, even if they are public officers."

Mustaffa, who has been suspended from duty, indicated on Wednesday that he wished to get a Criminal Legal Aid Scheme lawyer.

His police bail of $10,000 has been extended until Sept 25.

[email protected]

 

[StealEat]

Updated: 05/09/2014 14:07 | By Channel NewsAsia

Former ICA officer jailed for accepting bribe

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SINGAPORE: A former officer from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) was jailed on Friday for four months, and ordered to pay a penalty of S$50 for accepting a bribe.

25-year-old Ezhar Kamis, a former ICA specialist attached to Tuas Checkpoint, pleaded guilty to the offence which took place sometime in March 2011.

He is the last of four officers to be charged for their involvement in a scheme masterminded by another former ICA officer.

The mastermind, Mohammed Mustaffa Mohabat Ali, was jailed 21 months and ordered to pay a penalty of S$8,050 in December last year for giving and accepting bribes.

He had hatched a scheme to grant social visit passes to foreign women to extend their stay in Singapore in return for monetary gain.

The court heard today that Ezhar was one of four ICA officers recruited by Mustaffa, and had granted two women from the Philippines fresh Social Visit Passes valid for 30 days.

He did so despite knowing that the women had left and entered Singapore on the same day, and that issuing the passes contravened ICA policy.

Ezhar later received S$50 from Mustaffa for his role in the scheme.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Jeremy Yeo submitted that ICA officers have an important duty to safeguard Singapore's borders, and that Ezhar compromised the integrity of his office for personal benefit.

In mitigation, Ezhar's lawyer Mr Anil Singh said that his client had caved in to pressure exerted by Mustaffa.

He added that Ezhar was not motivated by profit.

Rather, he had concerns over Mustaffa's influence over his career advancement.

Mr Yeo countered that it was "slightly unbelievable" that Ezhar could have thought his actions were best for his career. In addition, Mustaffa was also not his supervisor.

He added that Ezhar should have reported Mustaffa, knowing that what the latter had proposed was a breach of ICA policy.

The other three officers who assisted Mustaffa in the scheme were each jailed four months and ordered to pay penalties of between S$50 and S$150.

- CNA/fa