NUS law professor in CPIB probe over exchanging grades for sex

winnipegjets · Apr 13, 2013

A phrase raised during the hearing was described by Tey as "downright nonsensical" - "Bad faiths mean wrong conscientious".

Mr Teng again said it was what Tey had wanted to put in the statement.

In an earlier statement, Tey had said he had given better grades to Ms Ko for two papers, in Personal Property Law as well as Equity and Trust.

In his later statement recorded by Mr Teng, he was allowed to retract that point.

On Friday, Tey said it was because by then, Mr Teng had already received information from the National University of Singapore that the alteration of grades in those two modules "had no basis whatsoever".

Mr Teng explained that Tey was "trying to confuse" him by telling him that he changed Ms Ko's grades at first and saying he did not later.

Either Teng is a good interrogator to be able to extract this confession or he made it up or Tey is so dumb to implicate himself.

Later in the day, Tey applied to recall prosecution witness Darinne Ko but was turned down by Chief District Judge Tan Siong Thye.

No reason was given. Why?

Vinnie · Apr 14, 2013

Vinnie · Apr 15, 2013

NUS law prof says former student had 'motive' for giving him gifts and sex

By Foo Jie Ying
The New Paper
Sunday, Apr 14, 2013

Clarification by TNP:

The report gave the impression that the accused Tey Hsun Hang and Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) deputy director of investigations Teng Khee Fatt were referring to the same document.

Tey was referring to a statement made on May 18 when he said the texture of the paper on the margins show some fading marks of an eraser.

Mr Teng was referring to the one made on May 17 when he said he had used a pencil to indicate where a mistake was made.

Without making this clear, the report may lead readers to conclude that Mr Teng had admitted he had made markings on the statement recorded by CPIB on May 18.

SINGAPORE - She made use of me for a good future.

That was what National University of Singapore (NUS) law professor Tey Tsun Hang claimed in his fifth statement recorded by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) on May 18 last year.

He said former student Darinne Ko, 23, had a "motive" for showering him with gifts, and that the sex they had on two occasions in his NUS office was with "guilty intent".

"It is because she expected me to show her favour and help her get into justice law clerk and an international law firm," he said.

"I think she is guiltier than I am."

In the same statement, Tey, who is on trial for corruptly obtaining gifts and sex from Miss Ko, revealed more details about giving her better grades for her research paper on Cross Border Insolvency.

He called her a "below-average student" who belonged to the "bottom 20 per cent to 25 per cent".

By giving her an A grade instead of a D, Miss Ko would then move to the top 20 per cent, which gave her a shot at getting a first-class degree.

"She knew about her chance of getting a first class with this change. I think she was happy. She wanted to be a justice law clerk," said Tey, who made six statements to the CPIB.

The statements were part of a trial-within-a-trial to determine if they could be admitted as evidence, for Tey had claimed they were made under duress.

On Tuesday, Chief District Judge Tan Siong Thye ruled they could be admitted as evidence and the main trial proceeded.

Dispute

Last Thursday, Tey attempted to dispute the fourth, fifth and sixth statements, which were recorded by CPIB deputy director of investigations Teng Khee Fatt, who took the stand. Tey repeatedly pointed out grammatical and spelling errors, saying they "don't make sense" and that he couldn't have committed them.

Some examples he raised included "presentment", "caritas" and "mental conscientious".

Judge Tan had to interrupt Tey twice: "Mr Tey, this is not an English class. You have to read in context. There will be typo errors, there will be grammatical errors. We have to look into the substance."

To which Tey replied: "I was trying very hard to persuade Your Honour that it was riddled with examples of expressions that couldn't be attributed to the defendant."

Also brought up in court last Thursday were "handwritten pencil markings" on the original copies of the CPIB statements.

Calling it CPIB's "modus operandi", he claimed that Mr Teng had made pencil markings on some parts of the statement before ordering him to correct them in pen.

Tey said: "Your Honour, if you look carefully, the texture of the paper on the margins show some fading marks of eraser on the right-hand margin, and Your Honour would be able to observe that."

Upon inspection of the original CPIB statements, both Deputy Public Prosecutor Kok Shu-En and Judge Tan said they did not see anything.

Tey then suggested a "scientific test" to prove that Mr Teng had indeed written on the statements in pencil, before erasing them.

Judge Tan dismissed his suggestion, saying that there was no need for such a test when the documents were before him.

Mr Teng later explained that he had used a pencil to "indicate where the mistake was made" - such as the misspelling of the word 'curve' - but he disagreed with Tey's allegation.

"I did not order Professor Tey to make those changes," said Mr Teng, who is expected to take the stand again today as the trial continues.

evisionary · Apr 15, 2013

He said former student Darinne Ko, 23, had a "motive" for showering him with gifts, and that the sex they had on two occasions in his NUS office was with "guilty intent".

"It is because she expected me to show her favour and help her get into justice law clerk and an international law firm," he said.

"I think she is guiltier than I am."

Wahlauway sibei tulan... after taking girl's virginity still dare to say such thing! Her "motive" is her grade, his "motive" is to have a good time! Think before inserting his dick into her CB!

Vinnie · Apr 16, 2013

Law prof in sex-for-grades trial says he was "in love" with former student

The law professor accused of corruption in the sex-for-grades trial said he loved his former student and that he never wanted to take advantage of her.

National University of Singapore (NUS) law professor Tey Tsun Hang. (photo: Francine Lim, channelnewsasia.com)

SINGAPORE: The law professor accused of corruption in a sex-for-grades trial said he loved his former student and that he never wanted to take advantage of her.

Tey Tsun Hang, 41, faces six allegations that he corruptly obtained gifts and sex from 23-year-old Darinne Ko, in return for lifting her grades between May and July 2010.

Taking the witness stand in his own defence on Monday, Tey recounted his relationship with Ms Ko, saying he was in love with her.

He added that she would address him as "dearest dinosaur" and gave him an iPod filled with songs they listened to together.

Describing Ms Ko as "charming", "vivacious" and "an intellect", Tey also told the court they would send each other poems - hers in English and his in Mandarin - as a declaration of their love for one another.

Tey also went through the list of gifts Ms Ko showered on him, which included among other things, a Montblanc pen, CYC tailored shirts and an iPod.

Tey also gave an explanation of his cheque book entries that were mentioned in court in January this year.

The court had heard then that Tey had paid Ms Ko for those gifts as well as for the dinner at Garibaldi's. The bill for that dinner was dated 21 July 2010.

Tey said he had issued a cheque for S$2,500 in July 2010 before Ms Ko left for an overseas study stint.

Back in January 2013, he said the amount is slightly more than the value of the gifts mentioned in the first four charges.

But in January this year, Ms Ko said no such cheque was given to her.

Tey said he made the cheque out to Ms Ko but she refused to accept it.

Tey said he paid her in cash after that.

At that time, lead prosecutor Mr Andre Jumabhoy pointed out that the cheque was dated early July 2010 while the dinner bill was dated 21 July.

So Mr Jumabhoy said Tey is purporting to pay for a dinner even before it had taken place.

But on Monday, Tey explained that Ms Ko had been arranging for the Garibaldi dinner weeks before the actual appointment as all nine attendees had different schedules. And because it was arranged weeks before, Tey said he had a rough idea of the cost of the dinner.

By then, Tey said he also found out from a friend, the cost of the Montblanc pen.

He said he added the costs of the dinner, pen and other gifts and wrote a cheque amounting to S$2,500 to Ms Ko for the items to reimburse her.

Tey said that prosecution's point about him being able to foretell the cost of a dinner in the future was a "hurtful supposition".

Later in the day, another key defence argument was brought up.

Tey told the court that under the National University of Singapore's robust marking system, a "collaborative effort" is needed to enter marks into the university’s examination system.

Tey explained that marks are entered into the examination system by an administrative manager and any changes to a student's grades require the approval of the Vice-Dean.

Tey said academic professors have no access to the system.

He also mentioned another of the university's precautions, which was the anonymous marking of papers.

The court heard that Ms Ko was ranked in the 82nd percentile for the subject "Equity and Trusts", and that that was before she and Tey started a relationship.

By the time she took the subject "Personal Property Law", which was also taught by Tey, Ms Ko's ranking went down to the "60 something percentile".

That was when they started going out.

When it came to her directed research paper much later, Ms Ko's percentile dropped even further - "to (the) 32nd or 33rd percentile".

Looking miserable, Tey added that their relationship right from the beginning was "pure, mutual and romantic", free of corrupt intent.

He said that he tried to explain this to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau's (CPIB) investigating officers but they refused to listen as they had "tunnel vision".

The move for Tey to testify follows the wrap of the prosecution's case on Monday morning.

The defence has to lay out its case now.

- CNA/ck/jc

Vinnie · Apr 16, 2013

Re: NUS Law Prof in Sex - For -Grades scandal

Sex-for-grades trial: Relationship had nothing to do with money or exploitation, claims Tey

Published on Apr 15, 2013

Sex-for-grades corrpution trial against law professor Tey Tsun Hang, 41, who faces six charges of corruptly obtaining gifts and sex from Ms Darinne Ko Wen Hu, then a final year law undergraduate at the National University of Singapore (NUS), in exchange for giving her good grades in 2010. The love that Ms Darinne Ko and he shared was "forbidden" and "frowned upon by society", said law professor Tey Tsun Hang. -- ST FILE PHOTO: CHEW SENG KIM

By Walter Sim And Bryna Singh

The love that Ms Darinne Ko and he shared was "forbidden" and "frowned upon by society", said law professor Tey Tsun Hang.

Giving his account of the relationship he had with his former student for the first time, he painted a picture of them as star-crossed lovers.

Taking the witness stand in the sex-for-grades corruption trial on Monday, he pointed to a letter written by Ms Ko, now 23, before their relationship ended to show how "intense" it had been. "She wrote this message of love lost, hope distressed, togetherness and departure," he said.

While giving his version of events of their relationship, Tey sounded wistful at times and at other points, was inaudible - leading Chief District Judge Tan Siong Thye to ask him to speak up.

Get the full story from The Straits Times.

GoldenDragon · Apr 17, 2013