SINGAPORE: A police officer who tried to help a suspect he recognised from a livestreaming social media platform was given five months' jail on Tuesday (Jun 8).
Quak Tiong Beng, 42, pleaded guilty to one charge of aiding 32-year-old Casper Ang to intentionally pervert the course of justice. Quak had helped Ang to convey information to a witness to deceive investigating officers and to shift blame to a supposedly dead person.
The court heard that Quak was employed as a police officer in the Singapore Police Force (SPF) since 1999 and was a staff sergeant at the time of the offences.
He was deployed as a Person-In-Custody officer, tasked with managing the regional lock-up at Police Cantonment Complex, as well as handling the keys to the cells and the physical security of the lock-up.
Co-accused Ang is a funeral director at Singapore Bereavement Services. He was being investigated by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) for offences under the Penal Code and the Computer Misuse Act, said court documents.
Quak had followed Ang on livestreaming app BIGO, and recognised him when he saw Ang at the holding area of the Police Cantonment Complex lock-up in May 2017. Quak approached him and asked if he was the user he recognised, and Ang acknowledged this.
Two years later, Ang was arrested on suspicion of computer crimes and other offences involving 116 transactions worth S$356,600, and an attempted 338 fraudulent transactions worth about S$1.4 million.
He was interviewed by the CAD between Apr 17 and Apr 23 in 2019, and lied to the investigating officer that one of his accomplices was a person named "Boon Hien", who had killed himself in December 2018.
He did this as he thought he could shift the blame to Boon Hien, knowing that CAD would not be able to verify his version of events.
"His intention in lying about 'Boon Hien' was to have CAD believe his version of events as the truth and frustrate the investigations against him," said court documents.
Ang told the CAD that his employees could verify that he knew Boon Hien through work, and gave names and contacts to them for follow-up investigations.
ANG ASKS QUAK FOR A FAVOUR
While Ang was remanded for investigations at the lock-up on Apr 21, 2019, he met Quak, who was inspecting the suspects held in custody.
Quak recognised Ang again and Ang told him what he was being investigated for. Two days later, while Quak was walking past Ang's cell, Ang asked Quak if he could help make a phone call to a witness in his case.
Ang gave Quak the witness' phone number and asked Quak to pass a message to the witness.
Ang asked Quak to tell the witness that if an investigating officer showed the witness a photo, he was to say that he had seen the person in the photo before, but could not confirm who he was.
Quak told Ang he could not promise to make the call as he was not allowed to make any calls in the lock-up, and he left. However, about 15 minutes after this conversation, he went to an area in the lock-up where he knew CCTV cameras could not see him, and called the witness.
According to court documents, the standard operating procedures of the Police Cantonment Complex lock-up prohibited Person-In-Custody officers from having their mobile phones with them while on duty.
Quak knew this but did so anyway, knowing that suspects in custody were also not allowed to have phones in order to prevent them from communicating with others outside the lock-up.
He conveyed Ang's instructions to the witness, who acknowledged the information. He later told Ang that he had passed on the message.
But unknown to Quak at the time, the witness was being interviewed by the CAD over Ang's crimes when Quak called the witness.
The witness picked up the call in front of the CAD investigating officer and put it on speaker mode. The officer heard Quak's instructions for the witness to lie to the police.
The prosecutor called this "a sordid tale of a serving police officer who had grossly abused the trust reposed in him by seeking to tamper with witness testimony in investigations into a large-scale fraudulent scheme".
Ang's suspected offences were allegedly committed by several suspects, some of whom were based overseas, funnelling funds of about S$350,000 through the Singapore Bereavement Services' bank account. Quak did not know the details of these offences, court documents said.
The prosecutor called for at least five months' jail for Quak, citing a gross abuse of trust "and the deleterious effect on the public perception of the integrity of the SPF and its officers".
For abetting an intentional perversion of the course of justice, Quak could have been jailed up to seven years and fined. Ang's case is pending in the courts.
In response to CNA queries, SPF said that it has commenced "internal action" against Quak following his conviction. He has been suspended since May 13, 2019.
"Officers of the Singapore Police Force (SPF) are expected to uphold the law and maintain the highest standards of conduct and integrity," the police said on Tuesday. "SPF will deal with officers who break the law severely."
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/new...social-media-tamper-witness-evidence-14971838
Quak Tiong Beng, 42, pleaded guilty to one charge of aiding 32-year-old Casper Ang to intentionally pervert the course of justice. Quak had helped Ang to convey information to a witness to deceive investigating officers and to shift blame to a supposedly dead person.
The court heard that Quak was employed as a police officer in the Singapore Police Force (SPF) since 1999 and was a staff sergeant at the time of the offences.
He was deployed as a Person-In-Custody officer, tasked with managing the regional lock-up at Police Cantonment Complex, as well as handling the keys to the cells and the physical security of the lock-up.
Co-accused Ang is a funeral director at Singapore Bereavement Services. He was being investigated by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) for offences under the Penal Code and the Computer Misuse Act, said court documents.
Quak had followed Ang on livestreaming app BIGO, and recognised him when he saw Ang at the holding area of the Police Cantonment Complex lock-up in May 2017. Quak approached him and asked if he was the user he recognised, and Ang acknowledged this.
Two years later, Ang was arrested on suspicion of computer crimes and other offences involving 116 transactions worth S$356,600, and an attempted 338 fraudulent transactions worth about S$1.4 million.
He was interviewed by the CAD between Apr 17 and Apr 23 in 2019, and lied to the investigating officer that one of his accomplices was a person named "Boon Hien", who had killed himself in December 2018.
He did this as he thought he could shift the blame to Boon Hien, knowing that CAD would not be able to verify his version of events.
"His intention in lying about 'Boon Hien' was to have CAD believe his version of events as the truth and frustrate the investigations against him," said court documents.
Ang told the CAD that his employees could verify that he knew Boon Hien through work, and gave names and contacts to them for follow-up investigations.
ANG ASKS QUAK FOR A FAVOUR
While Ang was remanded for investigations at the lock-up on Apr 21, 2019, he met Quak, who was inspecting the suspects held in custody.
Quak recognised Ang again and Ang told him what he was being investigated for. Two days later, while Quak was walking past Ang's cell, Ang asked Quak if he could help make a phone call to a witness in his case.
Ang gave Quak the witness' phone number and asked Quak to pass a message to the witness.
Ang asked Quak to tell the witness that if an investigating officer showed the witness a photo, he was to say that he had seen the person in the photo before, but could not confirm who he was.
Quak told Ang he could not promise to make the call as he was not allowed to make any calls in the lock-up, and he left. However, about 15 minutes after this conversation, he went to an area in the lock-up where he knew CCTV cameras could not see him, and called the witness.
According to court documents, the standard operating procedures of the Police Cantonment Complex lock-up prohibited Person-In-Custody officers from having their mobile phones with them while on duty.
Quak knew this but did so anyway, knowing that suspects in custody were also not allowed to have phones in order to prevent them from communicating with others outside the lock-up.
He conveyed Ang's instructions to the witness, who acknowledged the information. He later told Ang that he had passed on the message.
But unknown to Quak at the time, the witness was being interviewed by the CAD over Ang's crimes when Quak called the witness.
The witness picked up the call in front of the CAD investigating officer and put it on speaker mode. The officer heard Quak's instructions for the witness to lie to the police.
The prosecutor called this "a sordid tale of a serving police officer who had grossly abused the trust reposed in him by seeking to tamper with witness testimony in investigations into a large-scale fraudulent scheme".
Ang's suspected offences were allegedly committed by several suspects, some of whom were based overseas, funnelling funds of about S$350,000 through the Singapore Bereavement Services' bank account. Quak did not know the details of these offences, court documents said.
The prosecutor called for at least five months' jail for Quak, citing a gross abuse of trust "and the deleterious effect on the public perception of the integrity of the SPF and its officers".
For abetting an intentional perversion of the course of justice, Quak could have been jailed up to seven years and fined. Ang's case is pending in the courts.
In response to CNA queries, SPF said that it has commenced "internal action" against Quak following his conviction. He has been suspended since May 13, 2019.
"Officers of the Singapore Police Force (SPF) are expected to uphold the law and maintain the highest standards of conduct and integrity," the police said on Tuesday. "SPF will deal with officers who break the law severely."
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/new...social-media-tamper-witness-evidence-14971838
