.
Out on Bail how much S$ also never put ...
Its here lah :
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Temple leader jailed and fined for corruption
Straits Times
Date 09 Aug 2012
Elena Chong & Bryna Sim
THE secretary-general of
one of Singapore's biggest Chinese temples was yesterday
sentenced to two weeks' jail for corruption.
Terence Lee Swee Khim, 54, paid $300 to a friend to arrange for someone to take the
rap for his wife's traffic offence.
The offence took place almost a decade ago.
Apart from the jail term, he was also fined $5,000.
He is appealing against the sentence and is out on bail.
As
secretary-general, Lee is one of the key leaders of the
Loyang Tua Pek Kong Temple. The Straits Times understands that he has held this position in the temple for
about 10 years.
Lee is also a grassroots leader and received a
Public Service Medal in August 2009, partly for his active involvement as a patron of the Punggol 21 Community Club management committee.
He admitted to giving the cash bribe to his friend,
Lim Seng Chye, as a reward; Lim arranged for his own wife, Madam
Ang Bee Guat, to take the rap for Lee's wife, Madam
Ng Kah Ann.
Madam Ng beat a red light along New Upper Changi Road in July 2003.
This was the second time Lee gave money to Lim to take the rap for Lee's wife. A similar charge involving $200 in 2002 was taken into consideration during his sentencing.
Lee told the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau that he had approached Lim so that his wife would not risk losing her driver's licence, and to avoid losing discounts awarded by his motor insurer for safe driving.
The Straits Times understands that Lim and Lee have been friends for more than 10 years and are devotees of the temple.
Former temple committee members said that it was Lee who roped Lim into the temple committee, where he played supporting roles such as being in charge of the temple's external affairs.
For his role in the offence, Lim, 58, was given a similar sentence to Lee's in June.
District Judge Wong Li Tein said yesterday that while she agreed that the principal offence of beating a red light was itself not a serious one, the crime was in Lee getting someone else to bear the penalty of the offence.
Lee also premeditated the offence and orchestrated it himself.
She therefore felt that neither probation nor conditional discharge was suitable for Lee's offence.
She also noted that Lee could not receive a lesser sentence than Lim as he played a greater role in the offence.
In their mitigation plea,
Senior Counsel Harry Elias, together with Mr Henry G.S. Lim, annexed character testimonials from a dozen people vouching for Lee, including former president S R Nathan, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and four Members of Parliament.
Lee could have been fined up to $100,000 and/or jailed for up to five years.
The Straits Times understands that according to the temple's Constitution, any committee member who has committed a criminal offence is no longer allowed to sit on the committee.
But the temple's chairman George Peh could not give a clear answer when queried about this matter yesterday.
He initially said that Lim had been suspended, but not Lee.
But when asked the same question a second time, he said neither had been suspended.
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Source: Straits Times ©
