SINGAPORE – A police officer who allegedly received bribes in the form of loans and cash was charged on Tuesday.

Poo Tze Chiang, 45, was charged with seven counts of corruption and three counts of obstruction of justice.

On seven occasions in 2019 and 2020, he allegedly received the bribes totalling $32,500 from Cordell Chan Yuen Kwang and Wang Huate.

The money was allegedly given so that Poo would provide information and assistance to Chan and Wang regarding police investigations against them.

In September 2019, Ng Chuan Seng, 51, allegedly aided Chan and Wang by handing Poo a red packet containing $2,000.

Ng was charged with one count of corruption on Tuesday for passing the red packet to Poo in Geylang.

On Aug 5, 2020, Poo allegedly informed Chan that Wang would be detained if Wang reported for bail.

That day, the trio were at a void deck in Bukit Batok when Poo allegedly flashed his police warrant card at two police officers patrolling in the area, so that they would not conduct checks on Chan and Wang.

On Nov 25, 2020, in the same area, Poo allegedly told Chan he had spotted a colleague’s car and that Chan should head to a nearby coffee shop.

The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said that Singapore adopts a strict zero-tolerance approach towards corruption.

A police spokesman said Poo, who is a Station Inspector, has been interdicted since Dec 7, 2020.

The spokesman added that the offences were uncovered through the police’s own internal checks, and the case was then referred to CPIB.

“Officers of the Singapore Police Force (SPF) are expected to uphold the law and maintain the highest standards of conduct and integrity,” she said.

“We deal severely with officers who break the law, including charging them in court, or referring them to an appropriate authority for investigations.

“After the offences against Station Inspector Poo Tze Chiang were surfaced proactively through SPF’s internal checks, SPF referred the case to the CPIB and removed him from frontline duties. SPF also rendered full assistance to CPIB in the course of their investigations.”

If convicted of corruption, Poo can be jailed for up to five years and fined up to $100,000 per charge.

If convicted of obstruction of justice, he can be fined and jailed for up to seven years for each charge.

Correction note: An earlier version of this article stated the wrong year for when police office Poo Tze Chiang allegedly tipped off Cordell Chan Yuen Kwang that he had spotted a colleague’s car. It should be 2020. This has been corrected. We are sorry for the error.