More jail time for ICA officer who received cash and sex as bribes from overstayers
Source: Straits Times
Article Date: 28 May 2025
Author: Selina Lum
Teo Hwee Peng was initially sentenced to two years and nine months’ jail in 2023, and had his jail term increased to four years on appeal by the prosecution.
An Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer who received sex and money as bribes to help two foreign sex workers remain in Singapore had his jail term increased to four years on May 27.
Teo Hwee Peng, 50, had faced 12 corruption charges over helping Chinese nationals Liang Qinglan and Cheng Wenjuan obtain special passes that allowed them to stay in the country as overstayers.
He was initially sentenced to two years and nine months’ jail in 2023, after a district judge convicted him of eight corruption charges and acquitted him of another four charges.
The prosecution appealed to the High Court against the sentence, as well as Teo’s acquittal on three charges.
Teo also appealed against his conviction and sentence.
On March 11, High Court Judge Vincent Hoong allowed the prosecution’s appeal and overturned the acquittals, which meant Teo was convicted of 11 charges instead of eight. Teo’s appeal was dismissed.
On May 27, the prosecution sought between 4½ and 5½ years’ jail for Teo.
Deputy Public Prosecutor David Menon said in sentencing arguments that Teo orchestrated a scheme for the overstayers to obtain special passes that allowed them to remain in Singapore, during which time they continued to engage in vice, “actively harming ICA’s mission to uphold Singapore’s immigration laws”.
A special pass allows a foreigner to stay in Singapore for specific purposes, such as assistance in investigations and court attendance, but does not permit the pass holder to work if he or she does not have a valid work pass.
Teo’s lawyer, Mr Vijay Kumar, said the sentence sought by the prosecution was too harsh.
He argued that Teo’s actions caused little or no harm to ICA because he alone could not decide whether a special pass would be issued.
After hearing sentencing arguments, Justice Hoong imposed a total jail term of four years for the 11 charges.
Teo was also ordered to pay a penalty of $2,634.57, which is equivalent to the amount of monetary bribes he received. If he fails to pay the sum, he will spend another three weeks in jail.
Teo, who was with the ICA’s intelligence operations branch from 2004 to 2016, was suspended from duties from Nov 25, 2020.
In response to queries from The Straits Times, ICA said it takes a zero-tolerance stance on corrupt officers, and that appropriate disciplinary action would be taken against him “in accordance with the civil service disciplinary framework”.
Ms Liang, 40, entered Singapore as a tourist on May 28, 2018, but overstayed her visa.
She was arrested on Oct 16, 2018, in a joint operation by the police and ICA, and was later granted a special pass that allowed her to remain in Singapore to assist in investigations.
Ms Liang was sentenced to 25 weeks’ jail and a fine of $8,000 in December 2021 for three counts of corruption involving Teo and a separate charge over offering sexual services online.
Ms Cheng, 32, entered Singapore on Feb 19, 2019.
She was arrested for vice activities on May 2, 2019, but did not board her repatriation flight, and was instead granted a special pass. She died by suicide on Aug 27, 2021, before Teo’s trial was held.
The prosecution accused Teo of coaching the women on what to say to ICA investigation officers in order to get a special pass.
This was intended to maximise the women’s chances of being released on a special pass upon their arrest, thus extending their stay.
The prosecution contended that Teo also arranged for the two women to get arrested by providing their particulars to his former informant, who in turn relayed the information to her current ICA handler.
Teo contested all 12 charges, nine of which involved bribes from Ms Liang between 2018 and 2019, while three involved bribes from Ms Cheng in 2019.
He claimed he had helped Ms Liang to cultivate her as an ICA informant, and that she had falsely implicated him in order to extend her stay in Singapore.
These claims were rejected by the district judge, who convicted him of all charges involving Ms Liang, except one, which he was acquitted of due to insufficient evidence.
The district judge also acquitted Teo of the three charges involving Ms Cheng.
To prove its case during the trial, the prosecution had relied on Ms Cheng’s statements to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, as well as Ms Liang’s evidence on Ms Cheng’s dealings with Teo.
The district judge deemed Ms Liang’s evidence to be hearsay, and placed little weight on Ms Cheng’s statements on the basis that she was not in court to be questioned.
At the first appeal hearing on March 11, the prosecution argued that Ms Liang’s evidence was not hearsay, and that insufficient weight had been placed on Ms Cheng’s statements.
Justice Hoong agreed, and reversed the lower court’s decision to acquit Teo of the charges involving Ms Cheng.
Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.
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