A 51-year-old staff sergeant (SSGT) with the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) has allegedly received sexual services from two Chinese women in return for extending their Special Passes. On Thursday, he was charged in court with 33 counts of abusing his authority and accepting sexual gratification as a bribe.

The accused, Chin Peng Sum, allegedly informed those women and two others about the possible raids by an enforcement agency so that they could avoid the arrest for vice-related activities as well as immigration-related offences.

Chin faced 33 charges in court, including 13 counts of wrongful communication of information under the Official Secrets Act and four counts of accepting sexual services a bribe under the Prevention of Corruption Act on Thursday.

The court documents have stated that the man received sexual favours from the Chinese women Zhu Shirong and Wang Chenghong in 2017. It was a gratification of the recommendation for the Special Pass validity, which was needed to be extended.

He was also charged for obstructing the course of justice, as he deleted all the messages shared between him and other four individuals and warned them about the expected raids.

As reported, an ICA spokesperson stated that the agency takes a serious view on such irresponsible officers. They had reported Chin to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) and he has been suspended from his duty since June 15, 2017. The spokesperson also added that ICA officers are expected to discharge their duties professionally and will maintain high standards and integrity.

The defence lawyer S. Govindaraju said that the charges were served on Tuesday, September 25 and his client has not decided yet that whether to claim a trial or plead guilty. Later, CPIB stated that such offences are very serious in terms of a public officer, who used his position for his personal benefits. They also said the country has a zero-tolerance approach for corruption and the bureau will take a serious view of any corrupt practices and will take required actions against the offenders.

However, Chin will be present for the next hearing that will take place on October 25.