Four charged with accepting bribes to under-report weight of check-in baggage
Four customer service associates handling check-ins for Scoot Tigerair have been charged with corruption.
The men were charged yesterday with accepting bribes in the form of cigarettes or cash to under-report the weight of passenger baggage on Scoot flights.
Singaporean Mohammad Haris Mohammad Ali, 23, was charged with accepting at least six packets of Winston cigarettes over at least three occasions from April to May last year. The value of the bribe stated in court documents was about $66.
Singaporean Gerizim Kirubai Raj Deved, 35, was charged with accepting at least $630 over at least 11 occasions from January to July last year.
Both were working for Sats Asia Pacific Star at the time.
The company provides ground-handling as well as in-flight catering services to low-cost carriers in Singapore. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ground-handling firm Sats.
The two other accused - Indian nationals Patel Hiteshkumar Chandubhai, 37, and Ayyadurai Karunanithi, 47, were working for logistics service provider UBTS.
Ayyadurai, a Singaporean PR, was charged with accepting at least $500 over at least a dozen occasions from April to May last year.Patel was charged with accepting at least $800 over at least 10 occasions from January to October 2016.
The men are all alleged to have under-reported the weight of passenger baggage in the check-in computer system for passengers checking in for Scoot flights.
A fifth man, Indian national Gopal Krishna Raju, 37, was charged yesterday with giving the $800 to Patel in 2016.
All the men except for Haris have indicated that they intend to plead guilty later this month.
The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said in a statement that no form of bribery will be tolerated here.
"We do not tolerate bribery even when the amount is small because some corrupt acts can possibly lead to the compromise of our public safety," said CPIB.
"Corrupt practices of such nature will not only tarnish the excellent reputation of Singapore's Changi Airport but more importantly, it may undermine our safety in air travel."
The New Paper reported in July last year that Scoot and Changi Airport Group were investigating claims that a baggage-touting syndicate was operating at Changi Airport after touts were observed to be offering passengers cut-price rates for excess baggage.
Any person who is convicted of a corruption offence can be jailed up to five years, or fined up to $100,000, or both.
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