Oct 21, 2010
Cop kept seized items
By Elena Chong, Courts Correspondent
A POLICE officer who kept prohibited items seized from travellers coming through the Tuas checkpoint was sentenced to 12 weeks' jail on Thursday for criminal breach of trust. Tan Zhi Hong, 27, had pleaded guilty to 19 counts of dishonestly misappropriating items such as car flares, stun guns and 'pop pop' crackers. He had also admitted to five charges of buying illegal 4D lottery and was fined a total of $4,000.
The court heard that police conducted a search at his Bukit Batok home for illegal 4D bookmaking activities on March 11 last year when they found various items in one of the bedrooms. Fourteen car flares, 22 packets of 'pop pop' crackers, two stun guns, a pepper spray and a stack of documents relating to the handing over of the items and their acknoweldgement receipts were seized.
Tan admitted to the police that the items were prohibited articles seized by ICA officers from travellers between Oct 2008 and March last year. After they were seized, they were handed over to him, together with their respective hand/taking over performa. Instead of registering them in the case exhibits register, he did not notify Jurong police division.
Tan, who had 35 other charges considered, could have been jailed for up to seven years and/or fined for each count of criminal breach of trust. For buying a public lottery, the maximum punishment is a fine of up to $5,000 and jail term of up to six months.
