SINGAPORE: A prison officer allegedly accepted bribes from an inmate in exchange for smuggling in prohibited goods, including nude photos and drugs.
Mohammad Asri Abd Rahim, a 39-year-old Singaporean, was on Friday (Jul 25) given five charges of accepting a total of S$3,700 (US$2,900) from an inmate over multiple occasions between August 2021 and June 2022.
The inmate, Mohamad Yusof Kasim, 50, was also given five charges. He is in jail and appeared in court via video-link.
According to a statement from the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), Asri took the bribes as an inducement to smuggle prohibited items into Changi Prison. These included magazines, nude photographs and prescription drugs.
Yusof is accused of roping in other inmates to help him pass the bribes to Asri.
Two of them were also charged in court on Friday: 37-year-old Singaporean Wilson Ang and 36-year-old Singaporean Murali Vigneshwaran. They are accused of abetting Yusof in giving Asri bribes.
Other than Ang, the other three men indicated that they would be pleading guilty.
