Policeman charged with obtaining sexual favours from 2 women under investigation

SINGAPORE — A police officer who allegedly took bribes in the form of sex from two female suspects, as well as copied videos and folders from two suspects’ laptops to his own portable storage devices, has been charged for various crimes.

Staff Sergeant Mahendran Selvarajoo, 31, was handed seven charges on Friday (Nov 29) in a district court.

All of the alleged victims’ names were redacted from court documents, due to a court gag order protecting their identities.

These are the charges that Mahendran faces:

• Two counts of corruptly obtaining sexual gratification from two women under investigation at separate multi-storey car parks in Ang Mo Kio and Serangoon, on Feb 27 and Apr 30 respectively. He allegedly did so because one wanted to avoid criminal prosecution, while the other woman’s employer was purportedly asking about the investigations against her.

• One count of illegally accessing the photo gallery of a female suspect’s mobile phone in the office of Clementi Police Division on Nov 16, 2017, and photographing three of her personal photos.

• Two counts of illegally modifying the contents of two suspects’ computers in April, by copying three videos and six folders to his own Seagate portable storage device and Sandisk USB flash drive.

• Two counts of having 46 obscene videos and 26 obscene photos in his Samsung mobile phone and Verbatim USB flash drive.

In response to TODAY’s queries, a Singapore Police Force (SPF) spokesperson said that Mahendran has been interdicted — or suspended without pay — from service since May 15.

A police report was lodged against him about two weeks before that. The SPF then investigated the case and referred it to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) on May 1.

“The police also conducted investigations into the case the officer was handling to scrutinise all related evidence and found that the integrity of the findings was not compromised,” the spokesperson said, adding that it was inappropriate to comment further as police investigations are ongoing and the case is before the courts.

“Officers of the SPF are expected to uphold the law and maintain the highest standards of conduct and integrity. SPF will deal severely with officers who break the law, including charging them in court,” he said.

The CPIB said in a news release that it would “not hesitate to take firm action against all corrupt offenders, including public officers who abuse their position of authority to cause undue harm to the public and tarnish the image of the public service”.

Mahendran was offered bail of S$15,000 and will return to court on Dec 27. He is represented by lawyer Kalidass Murugaiyan.

If convicted of taking bribes, he could be jailed for up to five years, fined up to S$100,000 or both.