<TABLE id=msgUN border=0 cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD id=msgUNsubj vAlign=top>
Coffeeshop Chit Chat - ex-cop jailed - thanks to a PRC woman</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>kojakbt22 <NOBR>
</NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>1:10 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 8) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>17999.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD>Decorated ex-cop jailed for graft
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD>He gets 30 months for accepting bribes and sexual favours from illegal masseur </TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Author --></TD></TR><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Elena Chong, Courts Correspondent
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- show image if available --></TD></TR><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
</TD><TD vAlign=bottom>
Ong, who was a senior staff sergeant, tipped off the unlicensed masseur about impending raids. -- ST FILE PHOTO
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->IT HAS been a long fall from grace for Ong Thiam Hock, formerly a decorated police officer.
Once commended and awarded for his dedication and teamwork, he will now serve 30 months behind bars for corruption.
The married father of two accepted bribes and sexual favours from an unlicensed masseur in return for tipping her off about impending police raids on illegal massage parlours.
Ong, who held the rank of senior staff sergeant, was a compliance management officer in the Clementi police division. He resigned last year when investigations into his case began.
Jail term aside, he was yesterday ordered to pay a penalty of $7,000, that being the amount in bribes he took from Ms Zhong Xiaoqin, 36, the masseur.
Ong pleaded guilty to five of 12 charges of accepting $5,500 from her between May and July last year.
The other seven charges - including receiving sexual favours five times from her - were considered during sentencing.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Andrew Tan said Ong became acquainted with Ms Zhong in November 2007, when he and other officers raided a massage parlour at Beauty World Centre in Upper Bukit Timah.
Thereafter, they kept in touch socially. When Ms Zhong began running Tian Zi, an unlicensed massage parlour in Clementi last year, she bribed Ong for tip-offs on impending raids so her business would not be hit.
Investigations showed he gave her tip-offs twice: In late May last year, he advised her to keep her shop closed the day a raid was to be carried out; the following month, he told her he would raid her shop to give the appearance that he was carrying out his duty.
During their meetings between May 22 and July 8, she gave him sums of between $500 and $2,000.
When he took up her offers of sex, their trysts took place either in Hotel 81 or in a carpark along West Coast Road.
Pressing for a stiff sentence, DPP Tan said Ong had abused his police powers and betrayed the trust vested in police officers.
In providing tip-offs to Ms Zhong, he also perverted the course of justice and compromised the safety of raiding officers, DPP Tan added.
But Ong's lawyer, Mr Thong Chee Kun dismissed this as conjecture, saying his client had succumbed to temptation and had intended to repay the cash.
Mr Thong, submitting testimonials and awards given to Ong for his exemplary service, said his client was remorseful and had returned $7,000 to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau.
District Judge Chia Wee Kiat said that as a police officer, Ong ought to have known that his duty was to uphold the law and his integrity, and that the offences were serious.
Ong could have been fined up to $100,000 and/or jailed up to five years on each charge.
[email protected]
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- headline one : end --></TD></TR><TR><TD>He gets 30 months for accepting bribes and sexual favours from illegal masseur </TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Author --></TD></TR><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Elena Chong, Courts Correspondent
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- show image if available --></TD></TR><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
Ong, who was a senior staff sergeant, tipped off the unlicensed masseur about impending raids. -- ST FILE PHOTO
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->IT HAS been a long fall from grace for Ong Thiam Hock, formerly a decorated police officer.
Once commended and awarded for his dedication and teamwork, he will now serve 30 months behind bars for corruption.
The married father of two accepted bribes and sexual favours from an unlicensed masseur in return for tipping her off about impending police raids on illegal massage parlours.
Ong, who held the rank of senior staff sergeant, was a compliance management officer in the Clementi police division. He resigned last year when investigations into his case began.
Jail term aside, he was yesterday ordered to pay a penalty of $7,000, that being the amount in bribes he took from Ms Zhong Xiaoqin, 36, the masseur.
Ong pleaded guilty to five of 12 charges of accepting $5,500 from her between May and July last year.
The other seven charges - including receiving sexual favours five times from her - were considered during sentencing.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Andrew Tan said Ong became acquainted with Ms Zhong in November 2007, when he and other officers raided a massage parlour at Beauty World Centre in Upper Bukit Timah.
Thereafter, they kept in touch socially. When Ms Zhong began running Tian Zi, an unlicensed massage parlour in Clementi last year, she bribed Ong for tip-offs on impending raids so her business would not be hit.
Investigations showed he gave her tip-offs twice: In late May last year, he advised her to keep her shop closed the day a raid was to be carried out; the following month, he told her he would raid her shop to give the appearance that he was carrying out his duty.
During their meetings between May 22 and July 8, she gave him sums of between $500 and $2,000.
When he took up her offers of sex, their trysts took place either in Hotel 81 or in a carpark along West Coast Road.
Pressing for a stiff sentence, DPP Tan said Ong had abused his police powers and betrayed the trust vested in police officers.
In providing tip-offs to Ms Zhong, he also perverted the course of justice and compromised the safety of raiding officers, DPP Tan added.
But Ong's lawyer, Mr Thong Chee Kun dismissed this as conjecture, saying his client had succumbed to temptation and had intended to repay the cash.
Mr Thong, submitting testimonials and awards given to Ong for his exemplary service, said his client was remorseful and had returned $7,000 to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau.
District Judge Chia Wee Kiat said that as a police officer, Ong ought to have known that his duty was to uphold the law and his integrity, and that the offences were serious.
Ong could have been fined up to $100,000 and/or jailed up to five years on each charge.
[email protected]
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
