TWO police sergeants who conspired to get their hands on a
$1,000 wad of cash found at Nanyang Polytechnic in April 2008 were
jailed on Thursday for attempting to cheat and providing false
information. Abdul Aziz Abdul Majid, from the Bedok police
division, had also logged onto the police database unlawfully.
He was jailed a total of 10 months. His accomplice, fellow
sergeant Nazir Ali Khan, 37, was jailed four months.
In passing sentence, District Judge Jill Tan said that while it
was inexcusable to cheat another person, it was disgraceful for the
two sergeants to try to cheat another officer and get hold of the
cash. Both men are appealing against the conviction and
sentence.
During the three-week trial, the court heard that Abdul Aziz was
in financial difficulties when he went into the police database in
April 2008 and discovered the Clementi division was holding $1,000
in its lost-and-found section. The 32-year-old then contacted Nazir
and devised a plan to claim the cash for themselves. On April 4, he
posed as a vending machine technician who had lost $1,000 three
days earlier, and visited the Clementi police station. He lied that
Nazir had informed him that the money had been found and was at the
Clementi police division.
The cash was never handed over and, in the ensuing
investigation, Nazir was pulled up for an interview and told
investigators that Abdul Aziz had lost $1,000 either at Nanyang
Polytechnic or at Yio Chu Kang MRT station. He had merely called
the Clementi police division to help his friend recover the
money.
Both Abdul Aziz and Nazir have been suspended from their
duties.
-- ST