ICA inspector obtained bribes in the form of sex acts from 6 foreign men in exchange for his help

SINGAPORE – An Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) inspector

obtained bribes in the form of sex acts from six men

in exchange for helping them with their short-term visit pass applications so they could remain in Singapore.

Kannan Morice Rajagopal Jayaram, 55, who committed the offences between 2022 and 2023, pleaded guilty on July 28 to three corruption charges, each involving an Indian national.

The three men were between 25 and 30 years old at the time.

Another three similar charges involving three other men will be considered during the Singaporean’s sentencing.

In a statement in 2023, ICA said that Kannan has been suspended from service since April that year.

In another statement on July 29, ICA said: “Following the officer’s conviction in court, we will begin disciplinary proceedings against him.”

Deputy public prosecutors Bryan Wong and Benjamin Low stated in court documents that Kannan joined ICA in 1996 and became a team leader at ICA’s Visit Pass Unit in 2018.

He rose through the ranks and became an inspector in 2021. As a team leader, he was responsible for overseeing a team of around 10 ICA officers. Among other things, these officers were tasked with processing foreigners’ applications to extend their short-term visit passes.

While there were ICA guidelines, Kannan’s subordinates also had the discretion to grant or reject pass extensions.

However, they would usually consult him whenever they encountered difficulties with such applications.

In turn, Kannan had the discretion to approve pass extension applications that his team handled.

There were also times when he manned walk-in counters at the ICA headquarters, the court heard.

One of the men he targeted was a 26-year-old Indian national, referred to as V3 in court documents.

V3 had arrived in Singapore in March 2022 as he wanted to study hospitality management here.

He was issued a student pass in mid-2022, but it was valid only until September that year. Consequently, he had to repeatedly apply for short-term visit pass extensions at the ICA headquarters until he could obtain a fresh student pass.

On Nov 16, 2022, he went to the headquarters and Kannan attended to him.

The pair exchanged contact details and Kannan later contacted him via WhatsApp, asking to meet up. However, V3 declined to do so as he was in school at the time.

He received an e-mail from ICA on Dec 24, 2022, informing him that his short-term visit pass extension application had been rejected.

As his pass was expiring in two days, he panicked and called Kannan to ask for his help with the extension.

Kannan then told V3 to bring his immigration documents and meet him at the void deck of a Housing Board block of flats near Kallang MRT station that day. V3 did as he was told and followed Kannan home.

While there, Kannan instructed V3 to submit a pass extension application via the ICA website. After that, Kannan submitted V3’s passport number to his subordinate.

He also instructed the subordinate to approve V3’s application and grant the younger man a pass for two weeks.

The officer did as she was told and V3 received on the same day an official e-mail from ICA informing him that his application had been approved.

The prosecutors said: “He thanked the accused for his help... Thereafter, the accused requested that V3 kiss him, to which V3 declined as he was not sexually attracted to the accused.

“The accused persisted in his demands for sexual acts from V3, to which the latter eventually acceded as he was grateful to the accused for his help.”

V3 was also afraid that Kannan would cancel his pass if he turned down his advances.

The two men then went to Kannan’s bedroom and the older man performed sexual acts on V3.

The court heard that Kannan also committed similar offences involving five other foreign men.

Court documents did not state how his crimes came to light, but he was charged in court in 2023.

His mitigation and sentencing are expected to take place on Aug 18.