24-7-2024 (SINGAPORE) A former Singaporean police officer has been sentenced to four years and four months in prison for misappropriating approximately S$90,500 and committing forgery over a three-year period. Mohamad Danial Mohamad Nazali, 35, pleaded guilty to multiple charges of criminal breach of trust as a public servant and forgery last month.
The sentencing, which took place on Tuesday, marks the culmination of a case that has sent shockwaves through Singapore’s law enforcement community. Danial, who had served as a police officer since April 2009, abused his position as a senior investigation officer to pocket funds intended for victims of crimes and case exhibits.
Court documents reveal that Danial’s offences began in July 2017 and continued until October 2020, when his misdeeds were finally uncovered. As part of his duties, Danial was responsible for facilitating the transfer of restitution money from offenders to victims. However, instead of completing these transfers, he repeatedly kept the money for himself, using it to settle personal debts and fuel his gambling habits.
To conceal his actions, Danial forged police acknowledgement slips, falsely indicating that he had handed over the funds to the intended recipients. In one particularly egregious instance, he misappropriated S$15,943.16 in cash that was meant to be repaid to a company in a cheating case. Danial used this money for football betting and personal expenses, forging a document to suggest he had delivered the funds to the complainant.
The former officer’s criminal activities extended beyond misappropriating restitution funds. In May 2019, during a raid related to a criminal breach of trust case, Danial seized S$5,954.10 from a defendant’s residence. Rather than reporting this seizure as a case exhibit, he pocketed the money and used it for gambling and personal expenses.
Danial’s downfall began when a routine credit bureau screening revealed he had accumulated unsecured debt amounting to nearly three months of his salary. Subsequent investigations uncovered his pattern of misappropriation and forgery, leading to his arrest and interdiction from duties in October 2020.
During the sentencing, District Judge Crystal Tan emphasised the severity of Danial’s actions, describing them as a “fundamental breach” of his duty. She highlighted not only the financial harm caused to victims but also the potential impact on the investigations and cases he handled. Moreover, Judge Tan stressed the reputational damage inflicted upon the Singapore Police Force and the erosion of public confidence in law enforcement resulting from his crimes.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Emily Koh, who sought a jail term of 52 to 55 months, characterised Danial’s offences as an “egregious abuse of trust” that dishonoured and betrayed the police organisation “to the highest degree”. She noted that Danial had committed the very type of offence he was responsible for preventing, and his actions had gone undetected for an extended period due to his forgery.
