Dorm worker jailed, fined for soliciting $500 bribe from foreign workers
Facing some financial difficulties, a security officer at a foreign worker dormitory in Kranji abused his position to solicit bribes from two workers in May 2023.
He forced the workers to pay a $500 fine – 25 times the company policy – after they were caught with contraband cigarettes.
Muhamad Zulfakar Muhamad Zaini, 25, then shared the money with four other security officers on duty.
On Jan 27, Zulfakar was sentenced to four weeks’ jail and fined $500 after pleading guilty to one charge under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA).
Deputy Public Prosecutor Jonathan Tan said Zulfakar had shown a breach in his integrity and abused his authority by taking advantage of the vulnerability of the foreign workers.
In his submissions, the prosecutor said Zulfakar had preyed on the workers’ fear of being reported for possessing contraband cigarettes, which could have led to the termination of their employment or deportation from Singapore.
At the time of the offence, Zulfakar was employed as a security officer at Kranji Lodge 1.
The court heard that Zulfakar had been trained on the dormitory’s position on contraband cigarettes.
The dormitory’s in-house rules dictate that a worker could be fined up to $20 if he is caught with contraband cigarettes.
The offender must sign a form when paying the fine, and the security officer will hand the fine to the dormitory management, who will issue a cash receipt in return. The security officers must then destroy the contraband items seized.
Workers caught with larger quantities of contraband cigarettes will also be referred to the police and Singapore Customs.
On May 11, 2023, two Bangladeshi construction workers who resided at the dormitory were caught by another security officer as they were returning to the lodge with five packets of contraband cigarettes.
The officer brought the pair back to the security office at around 11pm and they were later questioned by Zulfakar, who was the shift supervisor.
After some time, Zulfakar instructed another colleague to demand a $500 fine from the pair and threatened to involve the police if the pair did not make the payment.
The two workers complied and handed over $500 to the security officers. Zulfakar later split the bribe equally among four others.
DPP Tan did not elaborate on how the matter came to light, but he added that further investigations showed this was not a one-time incident.
The court heard that Zulfakar had been involved in other occasions where he collected fines from workers for contraband items before sharing the money with his colleagues. This has been going on since 2021.
The four other officers involved in the case have all been dealt with.
On Sept 13, 2024, two officers were each sentenced to three weeks’ jail for their role in the offence. One other officer was sentenced to 10 days’ jail on Dec 16, 2024. The fourth officer was sentenced to three weeks’ jail on Jan 9.
For each charge under the PCA, an offender can be jailed for up to five years and fined up to $100,000.
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