Man jailed for bribing Singapore navy officer with $8,400

A man who bribed a naval officer to close an eye on boats bringing in contraband cigarettes from Batam was jailed for 32 months on Monday.

Mazlan Musa, 40, had admitted to three charges of corruptly giving a total of $8,400 to Gavin Bertram Lazaroo, then a costal surveillance officer, through Norazmi Sawodi, to facilitate the entry of boats carrying contraband cigarettes.

The three payments of $2,400, $2,500 and $3,500 were made at a coffeeshop in Geylang in July, August and September 2006 respectively.

Norazmi, now 43, came to know Lazaroo from the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) at a coffeeshop in Lorong 20 Geylang that year, and asked if he was willing to help him bring into Singapore contraband cigarettes from Batam, Indonesia.