A Chinese man who offered a policeman $1,000 to buy himself a drink when he was stopped for a traffic violation was Tuesday ordered to pay a fine of $10,000 or serve three months in prison.

The man, Wen Haugh, was fined after pleading guilty to bribery in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court.

The court was told that Wen, a 42-year-old businessman, tried to bribe the policeman after producing an invalid fitness certificate for the vehicle he was driving along Waltham Park Road in Kingston when he was stopped by the police on April 7.

Wen, through his interpreter, told Resident Magistrate Georgianna Fraser that the officer did not give him a ticket.

However, he admitted that he offered the officer the money after the policeman took him and locked him inside the service vehicle for an hour.

"Well Sir, you must not be over generous with your money; keep it in your pocket," RM Fraser told Wen after handing down the sentence.