Singaporean says he paid bribe linked to Taiwan actress Charlene An’s extortion scandal

Singapore man says police seized e-cigarettes after stopping the taxi he and his group were travelling in

They demanded a bribe of US$820 to go easy on charges linked to vapes and the failure to produce a visa

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Charlene An speaks during an interview via a video call in Taipei on January 30, 2023. Photo: EBC via AP

Published: 6:07pm, 2 Feb 2023

A Singaporean man who was with a Taiwanese actress when Thai police allegedly extorted 27,000 baht (US$820) from her said he coughed up the amount after being threatened with jail time for carrying e-cigarettes.

The 29-year-old man, who identified himself as “Sky”, said he took a taxi with a group of friends including actress Charlene An after attending a birthday party in Bangkok, when police intercepted the vehicle at a checkpoint on the night of January 3.

He said officers asked the group to get out of the cab, remove their shoes and show their passports. The cops found three vaping devices in Sky’s possession during their search. Sky said the vaporisers belonged to him and not the actress.

He added that the police, who seized the e-cigarettes, demanded a bribe of 27,000 baht to go easy on charges linked to vapes and the failure to produce a visa. Sky said he had a visa on arrival.

The Singaporean said he had bought the vaping devices at a local market but did not know they were illegal as they had been widely available in Thailand.