A former enforcement officer for Singapore’s health sciences authority (HSA) has been charged with soliciting S$8,000 (over RM26,000) in bribes from a Malaysian said to be involved in a vape syndicate in the city-state.
Michael Anthony Pillay, a 34-year-old Singaporean, was charged in his capacity as a former chief enforcement supervisor of WSH Experts, which carried out enforcement for the HSA.
Pillay was accused of seeking bribes from Chua Wee Ming in exchange for tipping him off about the agency’s raids on vape products, Singapore’s Straits Times reported.
He was accused of committing the offence several times last year.
In October last year, Chua was charged with cheating and obstructing the course of justice. His case allegedly involved over S$6 million (RM19.6 million) worth of vape products.
The Malaysian was purportedly the mastermind of the import of vapes from his home country to Singapore and their distribution in the city-state.
In March 2024, he allegedly broke into a warehouse with three other men to steal vape-related products previously seized by the HSA. The other three were Singaporeans Elvin Suriaganandhan and Lim Zhi Wei, and Malaysian Chee Wai Yuen.
Lim was jailed for more than two years, Chee for over a year, and Elvin for six weeks. Chua’s case is still before the courts.
