3 ex-Certis officers accused of taking bribes from sex drug peddlers, stealing drugs for own use

Samuel Devaraj
The Straits Times
Nov 3, 2023

Three former Certis officers were charged on Friday over allegedly receiving bribes from illegal sex enhancement drug peddlers and stealing such drugs for their own use.

All three men were attached to the Singapore Police Force when they committed the offences, said the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB).

Former auxiliary police officer Thiru Murugan Shanmugam, 30, was handed two corruption charges. He allegedly took bribes in 2022 from two peddlers to refrain from taking enforcement action against them.

He had allegedly worked with another officer, Mohammad Hafizudin Hanapiah, a 30-year-old former security officer, to obtain the gratification from one of the peddlers.

Hafizudin, who was handed one corruption charge, was also slapped with a criminal breach of trust charge for dishonestly misappropriating seized illegal sex enhancement drugs worth $106 for his own use. This happened between June to September 2022.

The third officer, Mohd Aris Jalil, 66, had also stolen such drugs that were seized for his own use, sometime before Sept 13, 2022. The former auxiliary police officer was handed a criminal breach of trust charge.

Thiru had allegedly conspired with Hafizudin on two occasions between May and June 2022 to obtain gratification amounting to $140 from Chinese national Chen Zixiong.

Chen Zixiong, 30, was handed a corruption charge on Friday.

On three other occasions in July 2022, Thiru had also allegedly obtained from another Chinese national Chen Dongliang gratification amounting to $750 as an inducement to refrain from taking law enforcement action against him for peddling sex enhancement drugs.

In court on Friday, Thiru’s lawyer Riko Isaac said he would not be making an indication if his client was pleading guilty or claiming trial at this juncture. His case was adjourned to Dec 4.

Aris and Hafizudin did not have a lawyer and indicated their intention to plead guilty. They will return to court on Monday.

Chen Zixiong, who was also unrepresented, said he was unsure if he would plead guilty and wanted to seek legal advice. He will return to court on Dec 4.

A person who is convicted of corruption can be fined up to $100,000, jailed for up to five years, or both.

Those convicted of criminal breach of trust can be jailed for up to 15 years and fined.