SOURCE: The Straits Times

A China national who tried to bribe two policemen to let him off for begging was jailed for six weeks on Friday.

Dai Yongfa, 59, whose face was brown in colour and had disfigured ears and nose, pleaded guilty to corruptly offering $350, 100 Thai baht (S$4) and RMB600 (S$120) to Staff Sergeant Nur Hidayat Santoso and Sergeant Muhammad Zaki Zainal at a carpark near Whampoa Drive on July 12.

A court heard that the two policemen had responded to a complaint that a Chinese national was begging at Whampoa Drive that evening.

When they came, a man led the officers to the nearby hawker centre and pointed out Dai to them.

As Dai could only speak in Mandarin, the officers sought the help of a passer-by. They found his passport that he entered Singapore on a social visit pass on June 24.

While waiting for assistance, Dai gestured to Staff Sgt Hidayat to check his sling bag. The officer saw a lot of cash inside.

Dai then took out a stack of cash from his wallet and offered the money to Staff Sgt Hidayat. He uttered the words 'gei ni, gei ni' which meant 'give you, give you'.

When Staff Sgt Hidayat gestured to him to stop and put his wallet back, Dai turned to Sgt Zaki and shoved the money towards him, repeating the Mandarin words.

Sgt Zaki turned down the offer. Dai persisted a few more times before he kept the money.

When two more officers came, Dai admitted that he had offered money to the two cops so that they would not arrest him.

Dai was found to have another $570 in his possession apart from the stack of money he had tried to bribe the cops with.

He could have been fined up to $100,000 and/or jailed for up to five years for corruption.

Read more court stories in The Courtroom.