Lankan fined for bribing airport staff in Singapore
July 25, 2011 03:41 pm
A Sri Lankan businessman was fined $5,000 on Monday for bribing a passenger service assistant in Singapore with $700 to waive excess baggage fees amounting to $5,060. Ovisa Yamane Gedara Atula Pradeep Rupasinghe, 41, pleaded guilty to giving $300 to William Wong, 35, in mid-2008 and another $400 that October.
A Singaporean district court heard the Lankan would make frequent trips to Sigapore to buy all types of goods and got to know Wong, who would man the passenger check-in counter for the Airlines. Among his duties was to ensure that baggage did not exceed the stipulated weight limit and to collect $22 for every excess kilogramme.
The Singaporean has also been dealt with. A district court fined him $4,800 for the bribes he received from the Sri Lankan. He also pleaded guilty to five unrelated corruption charges. In all, he was fined a total of $8,400 and ordered to pay a penalty of $1,440, Strait Times reports.
