An Indian airport worker has been jailed for three years in Singapore World news
A former Indian Changi Airport Group (CAG) support staff was sentenced to three years and two months in prison on Friday for accepting bribes to issue Airside Pilot Permits (ADPs) to unqualified employees.
Premkumar Jaya Kumar, 42, received SGD 4,400 from people, including a company director, reported The Straits Times.
An ADP allows the permit holder to drive designated vehicles on any part of the runway except for taxiways and runways. The air terminal is the part of the airport terminal that goes beyond passport and customs control, including areas such as terminals and baggage loading areas.
Premkumar, who worked with the CAG from October 6, 2015, to December 25, 2017, had given the licenses even though he knew that the company’s director Diong Yao had not passed the required process. and practical tests.
At the time of the offences, Diong, 41, was a manager at Singapura Logistics Support, while another man, Noordin Abdul Gaffor, 48, was a supervisor at the company. Their cases are still pending.
Premkumar also manipulated data in a CAG computer platform called the Permit Issuance and Apron Verification System (Apies) to falsify profiles of officers and show that they have passed their knowledge and practical tests.
He pleaded guilty to offenses under the Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act and multiple charges of graft.
Apart from jail time, he was also ordered to pay a fine of SGD 7,500. Premkumar will spend an additional 15 days behind bars if he fails to pay this amount.
The lawyer said, “By committing these offences, the accused was at least 42 untrained and unlicensed pilots at Changi Airport. The risk associated with these untrained pilots to the safety of people and property in aviation is considerable.”
Premkumar’s crimes came to light when a 19-year-old Malaysian, who was driving a cargo tractor in the airspace, crashed into a parked SilkAir flight on December 8, 2017.
As a result, the plane sustained SGD 795,000 in damage and was declared unfit to fly.
The CAG then conducted an investigation and found that the youth’s Apies profile was incorrect and Premkumar had corrected it. Premkumar was awarded another SGD 2,400 in 2016 and 2017. Incorrect ADPs were issued to at least 42 drivers between September 2016 and December 2017.
His crimes came to light in December 2017, and he surrendered to the police on December 19, 2019.
His bail was set at SGD 25,000 on Friday, and he is expected to surrender at the State Courts on May 17 to begin his trial, according to The Straits Times report.
