A marine surveyor, Anuar Ahmad, was acquitted for corruption recently. He had been charged with taking a $500 bribe for overlooking a short supply of bunkers (fuel) to a ship. During investigations, he had been told by an Corruption Prevention and Investigation Bureau (CPIB) investigator that if he confessed, he would only be fined and not jailed. Based on this, he confessed to the bribery charge.
During his trial, the judge threw out his confession as it was made under an inducement. The other evidence against him was also rather weak; there were no complaints about the fuel supply. Accordingly, he was acquitted of the charge.
It should be noted that a few years ago, the bunkering industry was hit by a scandal concerning bribes to marine surveyors. They are in charge of checking on the supply of fuel to ships refuelling in Singapore. However, some of them were convicted of taking bribes from fuel suppliers in order to overlook short delivery of fuel or dilution of fuel.
Legal note - under section 24 of the Evidence Act, a confession made under inducement, threat or promise by a person in authority, is inadmissible if the accused was seeking to gain an advantage or avoid an evil.
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