Indian-origin former prison officer jailed for bribery bid in Singapore

Singapore, Feb 23 (IANS) A 57-year-old Indian-origin former prison officer in Singapore was sentenced to more than three years in jail on Friday for attempting to seek bribes totalling SG$133,000 in exchange for transferring an inmate out of his jail cluster.

Kobi Krishna Ayavoo, a retired senior chief warder, was convicted of eight charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act, The Straits Times newspaper reported.

In addition, he was found guilty of instigating his colleagues to access the prison system to view the inmate's information in July 2017 following which he was suspended.

The prosecution told the court that Kobi sought bribes from an inmate named Chong Keng Chye on eight separate occasions between September 2015 and March 2016 to pay his car loan instalments, house renovations, a birthday celebration, and credit card bills.

Chong, who was sentenced to 20 years of preventive detention in 2005 for beating his girlfriend's seven-year-old son until the child died, wanted a transfer out of a cluster in Changi Prison.

Kobi tried to obtain between SG$3,000 and SG$42,000 but did not receive any money from him as Chong knew Kobi did not have the capability or the authority to help him, the court was told.

Claiming that Chong lied, Kobi denied asking for money from him on any of the eight occasions and said that he spoke to him only during yard time when there were always inmates within hearing distance.