“Sign the statement and everything would be fine.”
This is what a Singapore Corrupt Practice Investigation Bureau (CPIB) officer is now accused of having said to close the case. According to a China national who is facing trial for bribery, 55-year-old Su Feng Xian testified in the Singapore Court today (Oct 2) that CPIB investigator Tay Beng Kwan dangled the offer and coerced her into making a guilty plea. Prior to making the astonishing revelation, Su Feng Xian was charged in court for offering €2,000 (S$3,200) to STTA technical director Loy Soo Han on 17 Oct 2016 year as an inducement to show leniency to her professional table tennis player son who was facing disciplinary action for bringing a woman to his room.
During a police interview on 19 Oct 2016, CPIB Principal Special InvestigatorTay Beng Kwan allegedly also told the Chinese national that she did not need to engage a lawyer or contact her country’s embassy. The CPIB officer also allegedly told her that she could trust him and that he was there to help her.
The CPIB investigator defended himself in Court saying that he did no make any inducements or promises to her, and that she had given the statement voluntarily and had signed on every page of the statement after it was read out to her.
It is a taboo yet a common practice of Singapore Police to be making unofficial promises of “lower sentences” in exchange for a guilty plea.
The CPIB is a non-independent police organ reporting under the Prime Minister’s Office, rendering dictator Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong immune to corruption investigations.