Officer admits to accepting bribes from inmate to smuggle lewd photos and drugs into Changi Prison

SINGAPORE: A prison officer pleaded guilty on Friday (Sep 5) to accepting bribes from an inmate in exchange for smuggling in prohibited goods, including lewd photos and drugs.

Mohammad Asri Abd Rahim, a 39-year-old Singaporean, pleaded guilty to 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, also pleaded guilty on Friday to bribing the prison officer to smuggle in the prohibited items.

HOW THE ARRANGEMENT STARTED

Asri joined the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) in 2012, and he was partly responsible for managing inmates at Changi Prison. He was assisted by correctional unit attendants, or inmates who are given housekeeping duties and then paid an allowance, which they can use to buy items like snacks in Changi Prison.

Yusof was an attendant. In the first half of 2021, Asri started bringing gabapentin, a type of painkiller, for the attendants to reward them for their assistance in managing the inmates. 

He brought no more than 10 pills about once or twice a month, and passed them to Yusof, who would distribute them to the other attendants. He did not receive any money in return. 

In August 2021, Yusof reached out to Asri and suggested that if the latter was willing to smuggle contraband items into prison, he would be willing to pay him for his services.

Knowing that this would be illegal, Asri withheld his response to the arrangement at first, but eventually agreed to the proposal.

Yusof would instruct friends and acquaintances outside of prison to pass the contraband items to Asri, including lewd photos and gabapentin.

The inmate would use code words in his e-letters so that his friends and acquaintances knew what to pass to Asri, or “ayam”, as he referred to him in code.

After receiving the items, Asri brought them into Changi Prison. Since the original packaging of the gabapentin pills contained aluminium that could be detected by the prison's metal detector, he would repack the pills into small ziplock bags and bring them into the prison in his socks and underwear over a few days.

He would also keep the lewd photos in an envelope in a pocket of his work uniform, the court heard.

Yusof was the one who decided how much Asri was rewarded. His friends and acquaintances would pass cash or transfer money to Asri on his behalf, and the prison officer knew that these payments were from the inmate.

Yusof also roped in two other inmates to help him pass the bribes to Asri. One of them, Murali Vigneshwaran, 36, pleaded guilty on Friday to abetting Yusof in giving Asri the bribes.

Murali became acquainted with Yusof when both of them were serving their sentences, and was released from prison in December 2021. When he was not in prison, he similarly helped to pass contraband items and money to Asri.

After February 2022, he was convicted of fresh offences and imprisoned again.

In June 2022, Asri told Yusof that he wanted to stop the arrangement. But before they could cease their arrangement, SPS officers suspected Yusof possessed contraband items and raided his cell.

Investigations by SPS eventually found that the gabapentin pills in Yusof’s possession were smuggled in by Asri, the court heard.

The case against the last inmate involved, 37-year-old Singaporean Wilson Ang, is pending.

"WEB OF CORRUPTION" 

Appearing in court on Friday, all three men were unrepresented. Asri appeared in person while the other two men appeared via video-link.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Andrew Chia asked for at least eight months’ prison and three penalty orders amounting to S$3,700 for Asri. He also asked for at least eight months’ prison for Yusof and at least three months’ prison for Murali.

Highlighting the aggravating factors in this case, Mr Chia noted that the amounts exchanged by Asri, Yusof and Murali were “not insignificant”.

The SPS also suffered “considerable reputational harm” because of their actions, he added.

Asri abused his position and the trust that SPS placed in him, the prosecution argued, noting that the officer’s repacking of the gabapentin pills indicated that he knew how the system worked.

As for Yusof, the prosecution noted that he received prohibited items that he would not have been able to receive at all if not for Asri and Murali. He also drew others into his “web of corruption”, said Mr Chia.

Asri and Yusof should be viewed as equally culpable, he added, highlighting that both of them stood to gain from the arrangement.

Murali did not stand to gain in the same way from the corrupt arrangement, but knew what was going on, and proceeded to aid Yusof in getting the items smuggled into prison, the prosecution argued.

“Wtithout Murali’s help, Yusof would not have been able to get the items and the corrupt arrangement may have fallen away,” said Mr Chia.

In mitigation, Yusof pleaded for a lower sentence of six months. Both Yusof and Murali also asked to backdate their sentences to Jul 25, or the day they were charged.

Mr Chia replied that the two were serving time under a Drug Rehabilitation Centre programme when they were charged, and are still doing so now, so it would not be appropriate to backdate their sentences.

Asri asked for the start date of his sentence to be postponed so he could finalise his personal matters at home.

According to a statement from the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) when the men were charged in July, Asri took the bribes as an inducement to smuggle prohibited items into Changi Prison. These included magazines, nude photographs and prescription drugs.

For each count of corruptly accepting a bribe, Asri could be jailed for up to five years, fined up to S$100,000, or both. The penalties are the same for corruptly giving a bribe or abetting such a gift.

An SPS spokesperson said in July that it was alerted on Oct 10, 2022, that Asri had smuggled nude photos into prison for an inmate in exchange for money.

SPS immediately commenced internal investigations into the matter and referred the case to CPIB, it said in July, noting that Asri had been suspended on half pay at the time, pending the outcome of the case.

In response to queries from CNA, SPS said that Asri has been interdicted on half-pay since Feb 8, 2023.

"Following his conviction, he will face public service disciplinary action and will be liable for punishments which may include dismissal from service," SPS added. 

The three men will return to court for sentencing on Oct 9.