Poo Tze Chiang, a former police officer, has been sentenced to two years and 10 months in jail for accepting $36,000 in bribes. In addition to the jail time, he was ordered to pay a penalty of $36,000. If he fails to pay this amount, he will face an extra 15 weeks behind bars. This is not his first conviction for corruption, as in 2024, he was sentenced to 6½ years in jail for accepting $32,500 in bribes in a separate case.

Poo, who was a station inspector with the Singapore Police Force’s Secret Societies Branch during both incidents, was suspended in December 2020. His latest conviction stems from receiving $36,000 over seven months from a Chinese national in exchange for promising to help him avoid prosecution for immigration-related offenses. However, Poo failed to fulfill his promises, and the Chinese national was convicted for his offenses in 2020.

Poo's earlier corruption case involved helping two men evade arrest and receiving $32,500 in bribes from them. These offenses occurred in 2019 and 2020. Poo will begin serving his most recent sentence after completing his previous one.

Chen Guangyun, the Chinese national involved in the recent case, is expected to be sentenced in July. Chen first entered Singapore lawfully in 2014 but later overstayed and was convicted of immigration offenses. He was deported in 2017 but re-entered Singapore illegally and was arrested for immigration-related offenses in 2019.

Chen and Poo met during a drinking session in 2019, where Poo offered to help Chen with his legal troubles in exchange for money. Chen paid Poo $18,000 between August 2019 and January 2020, but Poo never provided the promised assistance. Chen eventually reported the bribes to the authorities and was deported in 2020.

Chen returned to Singapore illegally in 2022 and was arrested in 2023 for his involvement in a fight. He then reported the bribes to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, leading to Poo's conviction. Poo's defense lawyer confirmed that he is no longer a police officer.