Corrupt guard helped syndicate smuggle cigarettes
He was meant to stop the bad guys.
Instead, Ahmad Khamis, then a senior security officer with Pico Guards, was corrupted by a syndicate, helping it to smuggle contraband cigarettes into Singapore.
On Jan 3, the 64-year-old was sentenced to 15 weeks’ jail and fined $5,000.
He was also ordered to pay a penalty of $4,800, which he had received in bribes on at least 32 occasions over a period of three years.
Ahmad pleaded guilty to four corruption charges and one charge under the Customs Act. Another nine corruption charges and one charge under the Act were taken into consideration for sentencing.
Deployed at Chevron Singapore’s Penjuru Terminal in Jalan Buroh, Ahmad’s job was to control and monitor those entering and exiting the premises, and to ensure that they did not bring contraband into Singapore.
Some time in September 2019, he uncovered a syndicate smuggling contraband through the terminal after catching one of them trying to get contraband cigarettes past security in a large backpack.
There were at least eight members in the syndicate, and all of them worked for Eng Hup Shipping.
The members included Theku Raja Suresh, a 41-year-old Indian national who was sentenced to eight weeks’ jail on Dec 19, 2024, after he pleaded guilty to two corruption charges.
Instead of stopping the syndicate, Ahmad, who was in need of money, entered into an arrangement with it.
He agreed to be paid between $50 and $200 in cash each time he helped the syndicate.
And so for more than three years from September 2019 to December 2022, the syndicate was able to smuggle an unknown amount of contraband cigarettes into Singapore.
The court heard that the operation involved the syndicate members using their positions as foremen and mooring crew to offload contraband cigarettes arriving on vessels at the terminal.
They then took the contraband, typically concealed in black trash bags, to their changing area, where it would be loaded onto a buggy and driven to the rubbish chute area, where there were no security cameras.
But to get to the rubbish chute from the changing area, the buggy had to pass through the terminal’s main guardhouse.
Ahmad would station himself there and lift the barrier when he saw the buggy, allowing it to pass without inspection.
As the buggy headed to the rubbish chute area, Ahmad would go to the terminal’s front guardhouse, where he would let potential buyers of the contraband into the facility to make their transactions.
The case came to light only after Theku was arrested by officers from the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau in February 2023.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Andrew Chia told the court that there are multiple aggravating factors in Ahmad’s case, including a transnational element in the scheme.
Ahmad pleaded for a lenient sentence, saying he suffered from health issues relating to his heart and lungs.
In passing the sentence, District Judge Cheng Yuxi said Ahmad had abused his position of trust as a security officer.
She said he was supposed to ensure no contraband and unauthorised personnel entered the terminal, but had instead become instrumental in the syndicate’s operations, and was, in fact, indispensable for the success of the criminal scheme.
Ahmad is out on $15,000 bail and is expected to begin serving his sentence on Jan 31.
For each count of corruption, he could have been jailed for up to five years and fined $100,000.
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