NParks exec to go on trial in Brompton bikes case

[hurley]

why did this case take such a long time to go to court?

The National Parks Board (NParks) assistant director in the controversial Brompton bikes case will go on trial from next month to fight allegations of providing false information.

The hearing will be held over 10 days in March and April.

Bernard Lim Yong Soon, 42, faces two counts of giving false information to officers from the Ministry of National Development (MND), who were conducting an internal audit into NParks’ purchase of 26 Brompton bicycles.

Lim, who was overseeing the purchase, had allegedly denied being a friend of the director of Bikehop Singapore, the supplier of the bikes.

He is also accused of getting the director, Lawrence Lim, to give the same false information to the auditors.

The alleged offences took place between June and July in 2012.

National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan had ordered the audit in 2012 after it was reported in a Chinese daily that NParks had purchased Brompton bicycles costing S$2,200 each for its officers.

Bikehop Singapore had won the tender to supply bicycles to NParks.

The report prompted questions over whether the agency got value for money in buying those bikes. CHANNEL NEWSASIA

 

[Suspicion]

Updated: 04/15/2014 13:47 | By Channel NewsAsia

Verdict of Brompton bikes case to be delivered on May 29

SINGAPORE: The verdict of the controversial Brompton bikes case is expected to be delivered on May 29. This was made known in court on Tuesday during the hearing of the case involving a former National Parks Board assistant director, who has chosen not to give evidence on the stand.

The change of position comes after the defence previously indicated that 42-year-old Bernard Lim Yong Soon will be testifying in court.

Bernard Lim is fighting two counts of providing false information to officers from the Ministry of National Development (MND), who were conducting an internal audit into NParks' purchase of 26 Brompton bikes between June and July 2012.

Bernard Lim, who was overseeing the purchase, had allegedly denied being a friend of Mr Lawrence Lim Chun How, the director of BikeHop Singapore, which had won the tender to supply the bikes. He also allegedly abetted Mr Lawrence Lim to provide the same false information to the auditors.

In court on Tuesday, District Judge Marvin Bay said since the defence was not calling any witness to the stand, the defence's case is closed.

Parties have agreed to a four-week adjournment to prepare their submissions.

The written submissions will be exchanged on May 15 and replies to those arguments are expected to be tendered to the court on May 22, before Judge Bay delivers the verdict, expected on May 29.

The maximum punishment for providing false information or abetting someone to provide false information is a jail term of one year and a S$5,000 fine. - CNA/ac

 

[songsongjurong]

http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/brompton-bikes-trial-nparks-assistant-director-convicted-lying-auditors

Brompton bikes trial: NParks assistant director convicted of lying to auditors

Ian Poh
The Straits Times
Thursday, May 29, 2014
SINGAPORE - Lim had initially told National Development Ministry staff in July 2012 that he only met Bikehop director Lawrence Lim Chun How in March 2012. But the two had actually met months earlier at a night cycling event. Lim tipped the bike supplier off about the impending tender.


Get the full story from The Straits Times.

This story below was published on April 4, 2014:

NParks officer ordered to give his defence

By Ian Poh, The Straits Times

The National Parks Board (NParks) assistant director on trial for lying to auditors has been ordered by a district court to give his defence.

The court ruled yesterday that the nine witnesses who testified so far had given enough evidence against Bernard Lim Yong Soon to continue with the trial, which began on March 11.

Bernard Lim, 42, oversaw a controversial $57,200 deal to buy 26 Brompton bicycles in 2012 from supplier Bikehop.

He is charged with lying to the National Development Ministry (MND) that he did not know Bikehop director Lawrence Lim Chun How before the firm put in the sole bid to supply the foldable bikes.

He is also alleged to have instigated Mr Lawrence Lim to perpetuate the lie.

Mr Lawrence Lim, who was the first to take the stand, had testified that he had met Bernard Lim at a cycling event in 2011, and that Bernard Lim tipped him off about the tender and revealed its budget, and later told him over the phone not to tell anybody about their relationship.

Three MND staff had told the court that Bernard Lim told them he first met Mr Lawrence Lim in March 2012. An anti-graft officer, meanwhile, testified last week that Bernard Lim told him that he had lied out of fear of being disciplined.

Yesterday, defence lawyer Lawrence Ang said his client will take the stand to give his side of the story.

On Tuesday, he had urged the court to acquit Bernard Lim without calling for his defence.

He said his client had not broken the law even if his actions might have been "morally reprehensible". The lawyer also said there were deficiencies in the prosecution's case, such as vagueness in the charges, the auditors' lack of authority to investigate the relationship between the two men, and lapses during a probe by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB).

Mr Ang said Mr Lawrence Lim had testified that Bernard Lim asked him to "try not to tell anybody" that they knew each other but the lawyer said this was, at best, a "request of a general nature" to hide the relationship, rather than an instigation to lie to the auditors.

However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Andre Jumabhoy yesterday said Bernard Lim covered up his relationship with Mr Lawrence Lim and told him not to reveal the link because he feared being investigated and disciplined - something Bernard Lim later admitted to the CPIB.

Bernard Lim's act in asking Mr Lawrence Lim not to reveal their relationship, he said, should be understood in the context of the scrutiny the deal received following a newspaper report. Then, Bernard Lim's superiors wanted to know whether the two men were Facebook friends. He had also asked Mr Lawrence Lim to "unfriend" him on Facebook.

"There is no requirement that the accused needs to have battered the first witness into submission," the DPP said.

Bernard Lim, who is suspended from his job, does not face any corruption charges. If convicted, he can be jailed for up to a year and fined up to $5,000. The trial, before District Judge Marvin Bay, resumes on April 14.