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By Rennie Whang
The New Paper
Friday, Oct 05, 2012
JUNE 12
Ex-Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) director Ng Boon Gay, 46, is charged with four counts of corruptly obtaining oral sex from Ms Cecilia Sue Siew Nang, 36.
SEPT 25
Managing director of Oracle Corporation Singapore, Leslie Ong Yew San, testifies on the first day of the trial. He says Ms Sue was hired because of her background in having successfully covered Ministry of Home Affairs accounts.
Contracts between CNB and two IT firms are suspect: One in March 2011, another in November 2011.
SEPT 26
Ms Cecilia Sue takes the stand. She says she had been forced to give Ng oral sex on four occasions. She had been afraid of offending Ng as he was well-connected and wanted to maintain cordial relations, she says.
The two tender contracts are said to have involved Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) products - and she, as an HDS strategic sales director at the time, would have received commissions for them.
SEPT 27
SMS messages between the two are brought up in court - "Do you DIY?" and "She's home?", among others. Ms Sue says that Ng gave her budget information before the March 2011 contract.
SEPT 28
The court hears that Ms Sue told Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) that her affair with Ng gave her a pregnancy scare. Ng's lawyer accuses her of lying at least seven times.
A total of 669 pages of calls and messages sent to and received by Ng's CNB-issued mobile phone show that he and Ms Sue communicated extensively. Some racy messages are introduced in court, including one from Ng that said: "My sp has a chip. It's in your body now.""
OCT 1
Ng's lawyer applies to impeach Ms Sue's credibility as a witness, while the prosecutors also apply to substitute parts of Ms Sue's oral testimony in court with her written testimony (CPIB statements). While she has given three versions of her relationship with Ng, the prosecution says that the version where she was in an intimate relationship with him from 2009 till September or October 2010 is the correct one.
By Rennie Whang
The New Paper
Friday, Oct 05, 2012
SINGAPORE - Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) deputy director Marvin Sim, said his former chief, Ng Boon Gay, was the final approving authority in the procurement process.
This included both stages of approval: The first stage is the need and availability of a budget to proceed with the project and the second, an approval of purchase.
Said Mr Sim, who testified yesterday, said: "(As he was the sole final approving authority) we would not proceed with procurement (if he did not approve)."
Ng was also able to assign, amend or cancel the allocation of funds for any procurement, he said.
IT contract not proposed by Ng
But it emerged that the storage virtualisation solution involved in the first contract in March was not proposed by Ng.
Such a solution was anticipated even before Ng joined CNB, Mr Sim said.
To the best of his knowledge, he could not recall any time Ng proposed the use of CNB's budget for IT products.
It was CNB's Department Technology Office (DTO) that had at a Jan 25, 2011 budget review meeting proposed that excess budget be used to upgrade CNB's IT system.
Ng had only suggested some budget be used for renovation.
Cecilia Sue attracts throngs of men hoping for a glimpse of her
The New Paper
Tuesday, Oct 09, 2012
SINGAPORE - 'Star witness' in sex-for-contracts case has throngs of men waiting outside court building hoping to catch a glimpse of her.
Each time she steps out of the car or out of the Subordinate Court building, you'd definitely hear the word "pretty".
Inevitably, there'd be someone among the hordes of male gawkers asking another: "So how ah? Is she pretty?"
The men, who were generally in their mid-40s or 50s, admitted that they turned up at Havelock Road for one reason: Ms Cecilia Sue Siew Nang.
Ms Sue, 36, was the prosecution's "star witness" in the corruption trial of former Central Narcotics Bureau chief Ng Boon Gay.
The first part of the trial ended on Tuesday and it will resume on Oct 31. Ng, 46, faces four charges of corruptly obtaining oral sex from Ms Sue between June and December last year.
But it isn't just the case itself that attracted the men who turn up at court during the trial.
Mr Lau Huat Chai, 55, confessed that he was there mainly to gawk at the star witness. He was waiting outside the court at around noon on Monday.
CPIB officers to take the stand at trial of ex-CNB chief
By Claire Huang | Posted: 30 October 2012 1911 hrs
Former Central Narcotics Bureau chief Ng Boon Gay (C) arriving at the Subordinate Courts (Channel NewsAsia file picture)
SINGAPORE: Three officers of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) will take the stand when the sex-for-contracts trial of ex-Central Narcotics Bureau chief Ng Boon Gay resumes on Wednesday.
The new witnesses had recorded a number of statements from the prosecution's key witness, Ms Cecilia Sue Siew Nang.
They were not on the prosecution's initial list of witnesses, but were summoned after the first part of the trial ended on October 2.
Ng is accused of obtaining oral sex from Ms Sue on four occasions in 2011, in exchange for helping to further the business interests of Hitachi Data Systems and Oracle Singapore. Those were the two IT firms Ms Sue had worked for.
The trial is set to go on for another 12 days.
During the first-leg of the trial, from September 25 to October 2, one question was at the forefront -- Was Ms Cecilia Sue having an affair with Ng Boon Gay?
Ms Sue, the key prosecution witness, took the stand unexpectedly on day two of the trial and gave a graphic account of how Ng had forced her to perform oral sex on him on four occasions.
However, what the 36-year-old said in court was not always consistent with what she told officers of the CPIB.
Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng, who represented Ng, produced telephone records from March 2010 to December 2011 to bolster his case that the two were in a sexual relationship.
The grilling proved too much for Ms Sue, who broke down several times.
On the fourth day of the trial, she admitted that she had lied to the CPIB.
The mother-of-one said it was the first time she was being investigated, and was afraid and confused. Describing herself as a "normal sales representative", she said she did not want to offend Ng, who she said was "well-connected".
The defence then applied to impeach Ms Sue's credibility as a witness, therefore the district judge will decide at the close of the trial which parts of her evidence are to be admitted.
Ms Sue's flip-flopping triggered another unexpected move by the prosecution - it questioned her as a hostile witness, saying she had a "consensual relationship with the accused from 2009 to September or October 2010."
However, Ms Sue disagreed with the prosecution's stand.
Speaking of the unusual move, Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Ken Hwee said it "was not taken lightly." He stressed that Ms Sue's statements to CPIB were given voluntarily and not under duress.
To prove this, DPP Tan called three CPIB officers who had recorded a number of statements from Ms Sue to testify.
So far, both prosecution and defence agree that Ng did not influence the committee that awards IT contracts, nor instruct his subordinates to favour Hitachi or Oracle Singapore.
The prosecution's case is that Ng pressured Ms Sue into giving him oral sex, with the full knowledge that she was pursuing business opportunities at that time.
The defence's position is that they were having an affair. The defence also challenges the charges - asking what exactly Ng did to further the business interests of the two firms, given that the prosecution agreed that Ng has no influence on the committee nor instructed his subordinates to show favour.
By Claire Huang | Posted: 31 October 2012 1212 hrs
Ex-Central Narcotics Bureau chief Ng Boon Gay and his wife at the court on Wednesday. (Photo: Channnel NewsAsia/Leong Wai Kit)
SINGAPORE: The prosecution in the trial of former Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) chief, Ng Boon Gay, on Wednesday told the court that four witnesses will be called to testify.
The four are: Koh Hong Eng from Oracle Corporation, deputy director of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) Teng Khee Fatt, and CPIB officers Wilson Khoo and Bay Chun How.
Mr Koh, a senior director at Oracle Corporation, is the first to testify.
46-year-old Ng is accused of obtaining oral sex from 36-year-old Ms Cecilia Sue in 2011 on four occasions in exchange for helping to further the business interests of two IT firms she worked for, Hitachi Data Systems and Oracle Singapore.
Ng told the court how Ms Sue was actively pursuing CNB and the Home Affairs ministry as clients.
Mr Koh said it was normal to do so in the IT industry.
He also said Ms Sue was doing her job by actively pursuing Ng, who was a potential client.
A 54-page extract of Mr Koh and Ms Sue's correspondence was submitted in court.
Referring to the extracts, Mr Koh told the court it was common for him and Ms Sue to message each other till 3am.
He explained that it was due to the nature of the job and that he would be communicating with other sales representatives too, not just Ms Sue.
CPIB deputy director Teng Khee Fatt is to testify after lunch.
Earlier, the court was told that the aim was for prosecution to wrap up its case by Wednesday.
SINGAPORE: The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau's (CPIB) Deputy Director Teng Khee Fatt's testimony at the trial of Ng Boon Gay continued in court on Thursday, shedding light on the CPIB's processes in the recording of Ms Cecilia Sue's statements.
Ng, the former Central Narcotics Bureau chief, is accused of obtaining oral sex from 36-year-old Ms Sue in 2011 on four occasions in exchange for helping to further the business interests of two IT firms she worked for.
On Wednesday, Ng's defence lawyer Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng had pointed out that of the 10 statements Ms Sue had given to the CPIB, the first four said that she had consensual sexual relationship with Ng.
However on her fifth statement, she had changed her position to being "forced".
Senior Counsel Tan accused prosecution witness Mr Teng, who was in-charge of the investigations, of continuing with Ms Sue's interviews to get "incriminating" evidence on Ng.
On Thursday, Mr Teng explained why they had continued to interview Ms Sue.
Mr Teng told the court there were many unknowns in Ms Sue's first four statements.
These included tender processes, pricing decisions, the commission she received, and matters that surrounded the close of a tender.
Mr Teng said they had to continue asking questions to find out more.
In its re-examination of Mr Teng, Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Ken Hwee said the defence had said that there was nothing to suggest oral sex between Ms Sue and Ng was forced.
DPP Tan then asked Mr Teng to read out passages of one of Ms Sue's initial statements.
In those passages, Ms Sue said: "I allowed him to kiss me forcefully."
The court also heard she was restrained by Ng while in the car and could "not escape under that circumstances".
When asked by DPP Tan if that showed Ms Sue was willing or not, Mr Teng said it showed she was an unwilling party.
During the trial, under prosecution's re-examination, Mr Teng told the court that he interviewed Ng on 9 March this year.
At that time, Mr Teng had told Ng he was being interviewed in relation to "the filming of obscene files" and the Official Secrets Act.
The witness had wanted further statements from Ng on incidences of sexual gratification he allegedly obtained but the accused told him he had already answered those questions in previous CPIB statements.
The defence objected to Mr Teng volunteering information not relating to Ng's corruption charges. The court accepted the objection.
The defence accused Mr Teng of using pressure tactics on his client during an interview.
At that time, Ng told Mr Teng his wife would go "crazy" if the names of the girls involved (in the case) were made public.
But Mr Teng said: "It's a totally different issue."
Later in the day, the defence took issue with the word "crazy", saying Mr Teng was the one who wrote the word in his station diary.
But Mr Teng stood firm and said Ng did use the word "crazy".
There was also contention over whether Ms Sue was willing to take the lie detector test.
The defence raised the point on Wednesday that Ms Sue was willing to undergo the polygraph test.
This, as Mr Teng wrote in his station diary that she wanted to do so.
But Mr Teng clarified on Thursday that he had missed out the word "not" when recording the entry in his diary.
When it came to the defence's turn, a picture on Channel NewsAsia's website, dated 2nd October 2012, was shown to highlight Mr Teng's "unusual treatment" of Ms Sue.
The defence asked CPIB officer Wilson Khoo if it is common for a deputy director to accompany a witness to court as seen in the photo.
Mr Khoo said it was the first he has heard of this in his two years as CPIB officer.
He was also asked if it was common for a witness to have six bodyguards.
He said he had no comment.
The fourth witness - CPIB officer Bay Chun How - also testified, clarifying CPIB's interviewing processes.
The prosecution has finished examining its four additional witnesses and it will wrap its case.
The defence's case will then begin and Ng is expected to testify in court.
Ng worried wife may find out about his many women: CPIB investigator
AsiaOne
Thursday, Nov 01, 2012
SINGAPORE - The second day of Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau's (CPIB) Deputy Director Mr Teng Khee Fatt's testimony's revealed that ex-CNB chief Ng Boon Gay had personal secrets he did not wish to be revealed.
Taking the stand, Mr Teng told the court that Ng admitted to being involved in relationships with many women, and was worried how his wife would react if she found out, according to Chinese evening daily, Shin Min Daily News.
The prosecution asked Mr Teng to give the details of his interview with Ng on March 9.
The deputy director said he told Ng that the purpose of that interview was to record his statement for the charges of filming an obscene act together, as well as an offence under the Official Secrets Act and corruption offences.
Mr Ng asked Mr Teng whether the case would go to court or be 'settled internally'. Ng was told the former was likely to happen.
Reading statements from his station diary, Mr Teng said he had asked Ng if he was guilty. He advised Ng that if he pleaded guilty, he may need to face only one charge. However Ng said he was innocent.
Mr Teng said Ng had shared he was involved in a string of affairs with many other women, and was worried that their names would be revealed if his case went to court.
He said if his wife found out, "it would go crazy", and asked Mr Teng if it was possible to "cover up" their names.
As there was no precedent of such request, Mr Teng said that he can only inform the AGC.
By Claire Huang | Posted: 02 November 2012 1511 hrs
SINGAPORE: The lawyer for former Central Narcotics Bureau chief Ng Boon Gay has urged the court to acquit their client.
Ng is accused of obtaining oral sex from 36-year-old Ms Cecilia Sue in 2011 on four occasions in exchange for helping to further the business interests of two IT firms she worked for.
Making submissions to court on Friday, defence counsel Tan Chee Meng said key prosecution witness Ms Sue's evidence "is fraught with inconsistencies".
He added that the prosecution's case is "undesirably weak" and the only evidence regarding corruption is so "manifestly unreliable" that the court should dismiss the charges against Ng.
SINGAPORE: Trial dates for former Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) chief Peter Lim Sin Pang have been fixed.
The eight-day trial will take place in January and February.
The charge against Lim relates to the 52-year-old allegedly obtaining oral sex from Ms Pang Chor Mui in May 2010 in exchange for advancing her company's business interests with the SCDF.
Speaking to the media after a pre-trial conference on Friday, Lim's lawyers - Mr Hamidul Haq and Mr Bala Chandran - said another pre-trial conference will be held in November.
This is to allow the prosecution and Lim's defence counsel to exchange documents, and prepare an agreed statement of facts.
Eleven prosecution witnesses are expected to testify in the trial. They include SCDF officers and Ms Pang, one of the three women at the centre of the sex-for-IT-contracts case.
The pre-trial conference will take place on November 23.
SINGAPORE - FORMER Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) chief Peter Lim's trial dates have been tentatively fixed for early next year.
Lim, who faces 10 counts of corruption in a sex-for-contracts case similar to former anti-drug agency chief Ng Boon Gay's, will go on trial from Jan 14 to 17 and Feb 18 to 21.
These were fixed after a pre-trial conference between his lawyers and the prosecution on Friday.
A further meeting has been fixed for Nov 23.
The prosecution will proceed on only one of the 10 charges tendered, it was decided earlier.
This involves Lim, 52, obtaining sex from Nimrod Engineering's Ms Pang Chor Mui in exchange for advancing the business interests of the company with the SCDF.
The nine remaining charges, which involve sex with two other women, were stood down. This, however, does not mean they have been withdrawn but can be raised again later.
Ms Pang, said to be married and in her 40s, was a general manager when she allegedly had oral sex with Lim, who is also married, in a carpark in Stadium Walk on or around May 2, 2010.
Under the Prevention of Corruption Act, he faces up to a $100,000 fine and/or five years in prison for each charge.
Ng (left) and Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng leaving court on Friday. The lawyer argued that instead of the sex acts being an inducement for his client to show favour to IT executive Cecilia Sue, the acts were to him 'more a frustration'.
By Leonard Lim
The Straits Times
Monday, Nov 05, 2012
SINGAPORE - THE four oral sex acts that Ng Boon Gay allegedly forced IT executive Cecilia Sue to perform were never completed.
Since the former Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) chief never got any gratification from them, there could not be any corruption involved.
That was the argument that Ng's defence lawyer, Mr Tan Chee Meng, sought to make last Friday in court.
Mr Tan noted that Ms Sue had testified in court that Ng was "not happy" because the sex acts were never performed to completion.
"If this aspect of Ms Sue's evidence is believed, and (Ng) never got what he allegedly wanted from Ms Sue, (Ng) never obtained the 'gratification' he allegedly wanted," said the Senior Counsel.
Hence, instead of the sex acts being an inducement for him to show favour to her, the acts were to him "more a frustration".
And if there was no gratification given to him as an inducement, how could there have been corruption, asked the lawyer.
He added: "If the prosecution's case is that (Ng) forced Ms Sue to give him oral sex against her will, they should have charged him with outrage of modesty or extortion or the like, not corruption."
Mr Tan made these points as he moved to get the court to grant Ng a discharge amounting to an acquittal, after the prosecution closed its case.
The lawyer described the prosecution's arguments as "undesirably weak" and its case as a "non-starter".
The prosecution has until Nov14 to respond. The defence will give a reply by Nov 19. That date is also when the trial will resume and district judge Siva Shanmugam will decide how to proceed.
Ng, 46, faces four counts of obtaining oral sex from Ms Sue between July and December last year, in exchange for furthering the business interests of her IT firms.
His defence is that the trysts - which he does not deny - were in the context of a long-running intimate affair that started in 2009 and ended only when he was arrested in December.
Mr Tan said this was corroborated in the first four statements Ms Sue gave to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, before there was a "distinct shift" in six subsequent statements in which she said they broke up in September or October 2010.
This was at least half a year before the first occasion Ng forced her to give him oral sex.
The crux of the prosecution's case is that under the Prevention of Corruption Act, a civil servant who accepts gratification from someone who has or is seeking business dealings with the Government is presumed to have done so corruptly.
But, Mr Tan stressed yesterday, there was no issue of gratification obtained by Ng - and so the presumption of this law was not triggered.
But even if the oral sex amounted to gratification, he said, the presumption in the law is rebutted by the evidence of the couple's intimate relationship. She had sent suggestive phone messages to him mere days after two occasions last December when he apparently forced her to give him oral sex, he reminded the court.
The inevitable conclusion from all the evidence, he said, is that his client and Ms Sue were having an affair until the corruption probe began.
Yesterday, the lawyer, reading from prepared submissions that stretched to 147 paragraphs, also sketched out other reasons Ng should not be made to take to the stand to defend himself.
The prosecution remains unable to identify what Ng's alleged favours were, he said. Two $320,000 IT tenders are suspect, though the prosecution does not deny that all government procurement processes were followed.
Mr Tan asked: "If there is no evidence of any influence asserted by the accused in any form, how is he to rebut something that never happened?"
At the end of the proceedings, the prosecution made quick observations of Mr Tan's submission including how he was attempting to "rewrite the law".
SINGAPORE - THE evidence of key prosecution witness Cecilia Sue was so "inherently incredible and manifestly unreliable" that it should not be believed, defence lawyer Tan Chee Meng said on Friday.
Among the issues that she had flip-flopped on were the nature of her relationship with Ng Boon Gay, and whether or not he had helped secure two contracts that she had won while working for Hitachi Data Systems last year.
As a result of her change in positions while on the stand, the court heard three conflicting versions of her relationship with Ng.
The first - recorded in her first four Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) statements - was that they had an intimate relationship from 2009 to last year.
The second - recorded in six CPIB statements - was that their relationship lasted only a year, from 2009 to 2010.
The third - which emerged in court - was that they had never been in a relationship.
Mr Tan said her denial of the relationship was contradicted by phone records that showed her talking to Ng for long hours. She also sent him suggestive messages, days after she said he forced her to perform sexual acts on him.
"If Ms Sue's testimony in court is to be believed, then she was flying into the arms of her assailant, initiating meetings with (Ng) time and again," said Mr Tan.
In her CPIB statements, she had also changed her mind about whether or not Ng had influenced the awarding of two contracts to her former employer. She went from saying there was no possibility of it to saying he could have done it, and finally to being very sure that he had done so.
For the prosecution to take the "good parts" of her statement while ignoring the "bad parts", would be to "pick up the plum from the duff", said Mr Tan.
He also said she had changed her CPIB statements on the nature of her relationship with Ng, and the defence lawyer said this had something to do with CPIB deputy director Teng Khee Fatt.
Mr Teng, said Mr Tan, had spent hours talking to Ms Sue even though he was not interviewing her for her statements.
"I have gone through the number of hours that some of the officers took to record statements from Ms Sue, and many of the interviews took less time than the time that deputy director Teng spent with Ms Sue," he said.
"What is questionable is that we have no records of what transpired. Surely that must raise a flag."
Prosecution stretched anti-graft laws to absurdity, says defence
By Tham Yuen-c
The Straits Times
Monday, Nov 05, 2012
SINGAPORE - DEFENCE lawyer Tan Chee Meng charged on Friday that the prosecution had stretched Singapore's corruption laws to the point of absurdity.
They had followed its letter and not its spirit, he said, maintaining that Ng Boon Gay had no case to answer.
The former Central Narcotics Bureau chief faces four charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The prosecution had relied on Sections 8 and 9 of the Act, which takes the position that any civil servant who obtains gratification from someone who has or is seeking business dealings with the Government is presumed to have done so corruptly. The onus is on the civil servant to prove otherwise.
Mr Tan said that going by this presumption, any civil servant who receives any benefit or advantage will be deemed corrupt and would have to prove his innocence.
This, he argued, would implicate a civil servant who was given a discount when buying a camera, even if the merchant had unilaterally decided to do so.
"Law must not be applied to the extent that it leads to absurdity or uncertainty," he said.
The prosecution, relying on Section 9 of the Act, had also believed it was not necessary to show that Ng had indeed shown favour to IT executive Cecilia Sue, said Mr Tan.
But the prosecution had mistaken the purpose of the provision, he charged.
The law, he said, was meant to catch those who were proven to have received gratification and promised to help, even if they did not deliver their promise in the end.
For example, a parking attendant who issues a fine, then asks for a bribe to cancel the fine, would be guilty of corruption even if he eventually did not have the power to cancel the fine.
In the sex-for-contracts case, the prosecution had not even shown that Ng had made promises to help Ms Sue, argued Mr Tan.
She is said to have performed a sex act on Ng four times in exchange for his help to further the business interests of her former employers Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) and Oracle Corporation Singapore.
There was also no evidence to show that Ng had influenced the awarding of two contracts to HDS, said Mr Tan.
"There must be inducement or furthering of interest," he added.
"You cannot use Section 9 to plug the loophole in evidence, that cannot be the intent of Parliament."
Because of its reliance on these sections under the law, he charged, the prosecution had mistakenly taken the position that all it had to prove was two things: that Ng was a civil servant and that he had received some benefit.
This "unduly formalistic and myopic" reading of the Act by the prosecution, he said, was done without consideration for the objective of corruption laws and would not help to eradicate graft.
"Indeed, if the law is interpreted as the prosecution has done, it would only lead to uncertainty and the abuse of process," he said.
Yesterday, the prosecution said the court should not take into consideration offences not before the court.
On Thursday, it had been revealed that the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau had also questioned Ng about offences under the Films Act and Official Secrets Act.
By Claire Huang | Posted: 19 November 2012 1400 hrs
Ex-Central Narcotics Bureau chief Ng Boon Gay and his wife arrive at the court. (File Photo: Channnel NewsAsia/Leong Wai Kit)
SINGAPORE: The sex-for-contracts trial of former Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) chief Ng Boon Gay has been adjourned till after lunch, when the judge is set to decide if Ng must answer to corruption charges.
Lead prosecutor Tan Ken Hwee told the court earlier Monday that contrary to what the defence has claimed, there is a case for Ng to answer.
On 2 November, the defence, led by Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng, asked the court to drop the charges against Ng, after the prosecution wrapped up its case in the trial.
Ng, 46, is charged with obtaining sexual gratification from IT sales executive Cecilia Sue on four occasions in 2011, allegedly in exchange for furthering her employers' business interests.
On Monday morning, DPP Tan highlighted three key areas.
The first was on gratification.
The defence had previously said it was Ms Sue's evidence that Ng never obtained the sexual gratification he wanted from her.
And if no gratification was given, how could there have been any corruption?
DPP Tan described the claim by the defence as "mischievous".
He said under the law, whether or not the fellatio is adequate or satisfactory is irrelevant.
What is relevant is that gratification took place and Ng was a government official.
On the defence's claim that there was no favour performed by Ng, DPP Tan said that under the corruption law, the lack of expressed or overt information is immaterial.
He said there is no need for the prosecution to show that there was explicit favour given.
He brought up the example of Ms Sue and Ng having a celebratory lunch in March 2011, when the company she worked for clinched a contract.
At that time, Ms Sue toasted Ng and thanked him for the success.
DPP Tan said Ng then seized the opportunity to ask for fellatio.
He said the context of the fellatio shows a link between Ng's demands and the tenders.
On the presence of corrupt element and guilty knowledge, DPP Tan pointed out that as a public servant, especially being an agency chief, Ng should have declared the conflict of interest.
He told the court Ng could have declared the conflict of interest without giving details and walked away from being an approval authority of tenders.
But Ng did not do so.
Given that Ng did receive gratification, that he was under the employment of the government, and that at the time of the alleged offences, payment or receipt of the gratification was from someone who was actively seeking business opportunities, DPP Tan said the onus is on Ng to defend himself.
DPP Tan added that the Corruption Act was designed to compel every public servant so he will not accept cash or in-kind from the public, unless he has legitimate reasons to do so.
As to Ms Sue's credibility, he said she only had difficulty testifying when it came to questions about her intimate relationship with Ng.
But the defence begged to differ.
In rebuttal, SC Tan said the prosecution was making "motherhood statements".
He said there is no dispute that there was gratification but that it is arguable for the prosecution to say that any sex is gratification.
He said "sex can be a favour, but not all sex are favours".
SC Tan said the prosecution has misinterpreted its submissions on no case to answer.
On the point about gratification, he said if Ms Sue's intent was to procure business opportunities, then by not obliging Ng, she would have incurred his wrath.
The senior counsel also asked whether a failure to declare a conflict of interest amounts to corruption and if it is fair to do so.
While he admitted that his client, Ng, failed to declare the conflict of interest, SC Tan said the prosecution failed to ask the Finance Ministry's Anita Lai and Deputy Director of CNB, Marvin Sim, if not declaring conflict of interest equates corruption.
On the prosecution's point that it does not have to prove anything under the perimeters of the Corruption Act, SC Tan called it an "astounding proposition", and one which he said "makes a mockery of the law".
He added that prosecution has asked the court to accept certain parts of Ms Sue's evidence but has refused to indicate which parts the court should take into account and which not to.
This prompted him to ask the court: what about the fact that Ms Sue admitted to having an intimate relationship with Ng?
District Judge Siva Shanmugam has adjourned the session till after lunch. He is expected to come to a decision then.
Former CNB chief put on the stand in corruption trial
By Claire Huang | Posted: 19 November 2012 1506 hrs
Former Central Narcotics Bureau chief Ng Boon Gay (C) arriving at the Subordinate Courts (Channel NewsAsia file picture)
SINGAPORE: Former Central Narcotics Bureau chief Ng Boon Gay took to the stand on Monday after District Judge Siva Shanmugam's decision that there is a case for him to answer in his corruption trial.
Ng, 46, is charged with obtaining sexual gratification from IT sales executive Cecilia Sue on four occasions in 2011, allegedly in exchange for furthering her employers' business interests.
During the three hours of testimony, Ng told the court how he had an intimate sexual relationship with Ms Sue.
He said the affair continued for about three years and there was never a break-up as claimed by the prosecution.
Ng also told the court that they continued to meet up even after Ms Sue gave birth to her daughter in May 2010.
He said Ms Sue was a willing party and during their affair, she performed oral sex on him up to about 30 times.
He testified that they also had sexual intercourse during the affair.
When asked if he ever revealed confidential information about CNB's budget, Ng said he will not do so.
The judge had said the court is obliged to be open-minded about the veracity of the evidence of the witnesses.
Ng rejects sex-for-favours charge, says Sue was 'willing party'
Monday, Nov 19, 2012
SINGAPORE - The former head of Singapore's narcotics police admitted at his corruption trial Monday that he had sexual relations with one of his agency's contractors, but denied any wrongdoing.
"We were having an affair, an extramarital affair," Ng Boon Gay, 46, the former director of the Central Narcotics Bureau, testified in his first appearance on the witness stand at his sex-for-contracts trial.
State prosecutors allege that Ng violated anti-corruption laws by demanding oral sex on four occasions from information technology executive Cecilia Sue, 36, in exchange for helping her win supply contracts from his agency.
But Ng testified Monday that Sue performed oral sex on him 20-30 times and they had full intercourse once over a three-year period.
"There was no force, she was a willing party," said Ng, one of the highest-ranking government officials ever tried for corruption in Singapore.
He denied revealing confidential information about the agency's budget to Sue and said she occasionally picked him up from work in her Mercedes Benz during their affair.
"I do not know why she said it was forced... she was a willing party. Cecilia would sometimes want to initiate these acts, sometimes it will be me, depending on the mood."
High-level corruption cases are rare in Singapore, a corporate and financial centre known for an efficient and well-paid bureaucracy.
Ng Boon Gay on the stand for second day in corruption trial
By Claire Huang | Posted: 20 November 2012 1113 hrs
Former Central Narcotics Bureau chief Ng Boon Gay (L) and his wife (R) leave during a lunch break after testifying at the Subordinate Courts in Singapore on November 19, 2012. (AFP/ROSLAN RAHMAN)
SINGAPORE: Former Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) chief Ng Boon Gay was back on the witness stand for a second day at his sex-for-contracts trial on Tuesday.
This follows District Judge Siva Shanmugam's decision on Monday that there is a case for Ng to answer.
Ng, 46, is accused of forcing 36-year-old Cecilia Sue, a former IT sales executive, into giving him oral sex, and in exchange, he allegedly helped further her employers' business interests.
Testifying in his first appearance on the witness stand at the trial on Monday, Ng told the court about his intimate sexual relationship with Ms Sue.
He said the affair continued for about three years and there was never a break-up as suggested by the prosecution.
Ng also told the court that they continued to meet up even after Ms Sue gave birth to her daughter in 2010.
On Monday morning, the prosecution laid out the reasons on why there is a case for Ng to answer, contrary to what defence had claimed in an attempt to get the case dismissed.
I did not demand sex in exchange for favours: Ng Boon Gay
By Claire Huang | Posted: 20 November 2012 1328 hrs
Former Central Narcotics Bureau chief Ng Boon Gay (C) and his wife (R) leave during a lunch break after testifying at the Subordinate Courts in Singapore. (AFP - Roslan Rahman)
SINGAPORE: More details about the three-year affair between former Central Narcotics Bureau chief, Ng Boon Gay, and Ms Cecilia Sue emerged in court on Tuesday morning during his corruption trial.
Ng is accused of forcing 36-year-old Ms Sue, a former IT sales executive, to provide oral sex in exchange for allegedly helping further her employers' business interests.
On his second day on the stand, the 46-year-old told the court he and Ms Sue often exchanged explicit and sexual messages over the phone.
Referring to Ms Sue's statements to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), the defence led by Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng, said Ms Sue had talked about love and sacrifice.
Ng said Ms Sue would ask him from time to time how much he loved her and made him rate his love for her, on a scale of one to 10. He said he usually gave her a six or a seven.
SC Tan asked if Ms Sue ever mentioned divorcing her husband. Ng said Ms Sue had asked whether he would leave his wife for her.
The senior counsel then asked if Ms Sue ever made use of her relationship to ask for a favour, to which, Ng said no.
When asked if he ever demanded sex from Ms Sue in exchange for a favour from him, Ng also denied it.
During questioning, Ng also shed light on the procurement processes at CNB.
He explained that even though he was the approving officer, he never had any role to play in the awarding of tenders.
Ng said he would follow the recommendations of the evaluation committee, which would in turn follow suggestions by the IT team.
He said this was the case as he had no expertise in the IT area.
In the case where he disapproved any proposal by his team, Ng said he had to state the reasons for doing so.
Ng also said he had no idea that Ms Sue was a sub-vendor for one of the IT contracts.
A key contention during the trial was conflict of interest.
The court heard that when Ng joined CNB in February 2010, Ms Sue was working for Hitachi Data Systems. He said there was no contract business dealings between CNB and Hitachi, hence no conflict of interest.
Ng insisted there was no conflict of interest for a contract he awarded on March 2, 2011 where Hitachi was the sub-contractor.
He explained that from CNB's perspective, the dealings were with the main contractors and who the main contractors hired was irrelevant.
In that same vein, SC Tan asked if there was a conflict of interest when he continued his relationship with Ms Sue even though he was heading CNB at that time. Ng said no.
The two-hour long session also revealed that Ng had sent a complaint letter through his lawyers to the Attorney-General's Chambers. This was because he felt that the manner in which CPIB's Deputy Director Teng Khee Fatt questioned him was "unacceptable".
Ng had gone to CPIB for his statements to be taken down three times. All statements were recorded by Mr Teng.
On the third occasion on March 9, 2012, Ng said Mr Teng used plea bargaining on him.
Plea bargaining results in an agreement between the prosecutor and defendant, where the defendant agrees to plead guilty without a trial. In return, the prosecutor agrees to dismiss certain charges or make favourable sentence recommendations to the court.
Ng said Mr Teng pressurised him into pleading guilty, in return for the case to be heard in-camera and for prosecution to not ask for a deterrent sentence. But Ng felt that Mr Teng was capitalising on the pressure on him to force him into admitting something he said he did not do.
So on March 16, Ng's lawyers sent a complaint to the AGC. The AGC replied on April 25, saying Ng's claim was unfounded.
Former CNB chief Ng Boon Gay maintains no conflict of interest despite affair
By Claire Huang | Posted: 20 November 2012 2214 hrs
Former Central Narcotics Bureau chief Ng Boon Gay (C) and his wife (R) leave during a lunch break after testifying at the Subordinate Courts in Singapore. (AFP - Roslan Rahman)
SINGAPORE: Former Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) chief Ng Boon Gay has maintained that there was no conflict of interest despite his affair with former IT sales executive Cecilia Sue.
Ng is accused of forcing 36-year-old Ms Sue to provide sexual favours in exchange for allegedly helping further her employers' business interests.
The former CNB chief said that he and Ms Sue talked about many things, ranging from family matters to politics, during their three-year affair.
However he insists that they never discussed about the projects Ms Sue was working on.
He said that Ms Sue never mentioned that her area of focus was on the Home Affairs Ministry, saying that he only knew her job involved government agencies.
Ng also said that he had no idea Ms Sue was a sub-vendor for one of the IT contracts CNB awarded.
Referring to a pre-procurement paper, the prosecution asked Ng if he knew at that point that HDS, or Hitachi Data Systems, was one of the suppliers to a direct vendor of CNB.
Ng said he did not know what HDS stood for.
The prosecution then asked that given his knowledge of what HDS stood for now, whether he thought there was a conflict of interest given that Ms Sue was an employee of HDS.
Ng replied that "it would raise an alarm".
However, he then went on to explain that there was no actual conflict of interest as CNB only dealt with the main contractor, which was not HDS.
Dealings were with the main contractors and who the main contractors hired was irrelevant, said Ng.
Ng continued saying that even though he was the approving authority for tenders, he did not play any role in choosing vendors but instead based his decisions on the recommendations of his team.
He said that this was because he had no expertise in IT affairs.
In the case where he disapproved any proposal by his team, Ng said he had to state the reasons for doing so.
The former CNB chief also said that Ms Sue would ask him from time to time how much he loved her and made him rate his love for her on a scale of one to 10.
He said he usually gave her a six or a seven.
The defence then asked if Ms Sue ever made use of her relationship to ask for a favour, to which Ng replied no.
Ng also denied demanding sex from Ms Sue in exchange for favours.
The court was told that Ng had sent a complaint letter through his lawyers to the Attorney-General's Chambers.
He had felt that the manner in which the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau's (CPIB) Deputy Director Teng Khee Fatt questioned him was "unacceptable".
Ng had gone to CPIB for his statements to be taken down three times. All statements were recorded by Mr Teng.
On the third occasion on March 9, 2012, Ng said Mr Teng used plea bargaining on him.
A plea bargain is an agreement between the prosecutor and defendant where the defendant would agree to plead guilty without a trial. In return, the prosecutor would agree to dismiss certain charges or make favourable sentence recommendations to the court.
Ng said Mr Teng pressurised him into pleading guilty in return for the case to be heard in-camera and for prosecution to not ask for a deterrent sentence.
However Ng felt that Mr Teng was capitalising on both the stress from his father's death and the pressure he faced from the media into admitting something he said he did not do.
AGC replied on 25 April saying that Ng's claim was unfounded.
