<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Police officer fined for smuggling cigarettes
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->AN OFFICER who had been with the police for 16 years thought he had found a novel way of smuggling contraband cigarettes into Singapore.
Suhaimi Yusoff, 39, a senior staff sergeant, stuffed 400 packets into a spare tyre of his car and tried to drive through the Woodlands Checkpoint with them.
But he failed to fool the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers.
Yesterday, Suhaimi was fined $66,300 for trying to evade about $3,100 in duty and goods and services tax. For having two packs of contraband cigarettes at his Woodlands Drive flat, he was fined another $4,600. As he was unable to pay the fine, he will have to serve a five-month jail term.
His lawyer Abdul Rohim Sarip told a district court that Suhaimi now stood to lose his job and some $55,000 from his police investment scheme.
Suhaimi had hatched the plan together with his neighbours - siblings Sheikh Sufian Sheikh Zainal Abidin, 16 and Siti Melati, 23 - to make money. They had monitored the checkpoint to gauge how often ICA officers checked cars before embarking on their first smuggling mission.
They bought the cigarettes in Johor and stuffed them into the modified spare tyre which they placed in the car boot.
On their return to Singapore on Feb 17, the Hyundai was thoroughly checked and the cigarettes were found. The next day, Customs officers raided Suhaimi's house and found two more packs of contraband cigarettes.
Standing in the dock yesterday, Suhaimi appeared deflated after sentencing. The Customs prosecutor told the court that he will be applying for Suhaimi's car to be forfeited.
Ms Siti Melati had paid a $42,000 fine two weeks ago for evading taxes on the contraband cargo. Her brother is awaiting a probation report before his fate is decided. KHUSHWANT SINGH
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->AN OFFICER who had been with the police for 16 years thought he had found a novel way of smuggling contraband cigarettes into Singapore.
Suhaimi Yusoff, 39, a senior staff sergeant, stuffed 400 packets into a spare tyre of his car and tried to drive through the Woodlands Checkpoint with them.
But he failed to fool the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers.
Yesterday, Suhaimi was fined $66,300 for trying to evade about $3,100 in duty and goods and services tax. For having two packs of contraband cigarettes at his Woodlands Drive flat, he was fined another $4,600. As he was unable to pay the fine, he will have to serve a five-month jail term.
His lawyer Abdul Rohim Sarip told a district court that Suhaimi now stood to lose his job and some $55,000 from his police investment scheme.
Suhaimi had hatched the plan together with his neighbours - siblings Sheikh Sufian Sheikh Zainal Abidin, 16 and Siti Melati, 23 - to make money. They had monitored the checkpoint to gauge how often ICA officers checked cars before embarking on their first smuggling mission.
They bought the cigarettes in Johor and stuffed them into the modified spare tyre which they placed in the car boot.
On their return to Singapore on Feb 17, the Hyundai was thoroughly checked and the cigarettes were found. The next day, Customs officers raided Suhaimi's house and found two more packs of contraband cigarettes.
Standing in the dock yesterday, Suhaimi appeared deflated after sentencing. The Customs prosecutor told the court that he will be applying for Suhaimi's car to be forfeited.
Ms Siti Melati had paid a $42,000 fine two weeks ago for evading taxes on the contraband cargo. Her brother is awaiting a probation report before his fate is decided. KHUSHWANT SINGH
