He allegedly had sex with 3 female IT executives seeking govt contracts
By Leonard Lim & Tham Yuen-C, The Straits Times, 7 Jun 2012
FORMER Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) chief Peter Lim Sin Pang was yesterday charged with 10 counts of corruption involving sex with women IT executives seeking government contracts for their companies.
Between May 2010 and November last year, he allegedly had sexual encounters with them in public carparks and apartments in Singapore, and once, in a Paris hotel.
He is accused of showing the women favour by 'advancing the business interest' of their companies in IT-related tenders called by the SCDF, in return for sex.
Lim, 52, married, and a former government scholarship recipient, was charged in the Subordinate Courts in what is the biggest graft case involving a public servant in two decades.
All three women named in the charges held senior positions in their companies. They are Ms Esther Goh Tok Mui, director of business development at NCS; Ms Pang Chor Mui, a general manager at Nimrod Engineering; and Ms Lee Wei Hoon, a director at the Singapore Radiation Centre.
Lim, 52, married, and a former government scholarship recipient, was charged in the Subordinate Courts in what is the biggest graft case involving a public servant in two decades.
All three women named in the charges held senior positions in their companies. They are Ms Esther Goh Tok Mui, director of business development at NCS; Ms Pang Chor Mui, a general manager at Nimrod Engineering; and Ms Lee Wei Hoon, a director at the Singapore Radiation Centre.
NCS and Nimrod were vendors providing products or services to the SCDF, and the Singapore Radiation Centre was described as a potential vendor.
Court documents did not specify the value or kind of services the three companies tendered for.
Lim, who lives in a Tanjong Rhu condominium, allegedly began having sex with the women from May 2010, a year after becoming the top man at the SCDF. Court documents said the women had sex with him or performed oral sex on him.
Ms Goh allegedly had sex with him seven times between April 20 and Nov 13 last year at carparks near the Indoor Stadium and Marina Bay Golf Course, in a Tanjong Rhu apartment and a Clementi flat.
Ms Lee allegedly had sex with him twice, in a Paris hotel and a carpark at Big Splash East Coast Park last October and November.
Ms Pang allegedly had sex with him once, in a carpark at Stadium Walk on May 2, 2010.
Ms Lee and Ms Pang are married and still with the same companies. Ms Goh, who is said to be unmarried, is no longer with NCS.
Lim, suspended from his post since Jan 25, declined to speak to reporters yesterday. He went to court alone and was picked up in a black car minutes after being charged. He is out on $10,000 bail, and has surrendered his passport to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB). He is represented by Mr K. Bala Chandran and due in court again on July 5. If convicted, he can be jailed up to five years and fined a maximum of $100,000 on each charge.
The prosecution said if he pleads guilty, it will proceed on three charges and take the rest into consideration.
Lim started his SCDF career in 1987 and rose steadily through the ranks before taking the top job.
He was arrested by the CPIB in January, a fortnight after another high-ranking public servant, former Central Narcotics Bureau director Ng Boon Gay, was also nabbed under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
It remains uncertain if Mr Ng will be charged in court. Asked if others would be charged in the corruption probe, the CPIB yesterday would say only the authorities were still looking into the matter.
Questions also remain over whether the three women named in Lim's case might face charges as well, for offering sex in exchange for business favours.
Criminal lawyers said this would depend on whether the prosecution has struck a deal with the women, offering immunity from prosecution in exchange for their testimony.
The Attorney-General's Chambers and CPIB declined comment.
Ex-chief 'had sexual trysts in his home'
He allegedly had sex with then NCS director in Tanjong Rhu condo twice
By Leonard Lim & Tham Yuen-C, The Straits Times, 8 Jun 2012
FORMER Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) chief Peter Lim Sin Pang allegedly had two of the 10 sexual trysts he is accused of in the sex-for-contracts corruption case in his own home.
He allegedly had sex with then NCS director in Tanjong Rhu condo twice
By Leonard Lim & Tham Yuen-C, The Straits Times, 8 Jun 2012
FORMER Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) chief Peter Lim Sin Pang allegedly had two of the 10 sexual trysts he is accused of in the sex-for-contracts corruption case in his own home.
The Tanjong Rhu apartment cited in court documents - where Lim allegedly had sex twice with then NCS director of business development Esther Goh Tok Mui - refers to his 16th-floor Costa Rhu condominium unit, The Straits Times has learned.
The alleged offences happened on an unspecified date in May last year, and between Sept 3 and Sept 6 last year.
All units at the upmarket Costa Rhu residence are served by private lifts from the basement carpark and ground floor.
Lim, a former government scholarship recipient who is married, was charged with 10 counts of corruption in the Subordinate Courts on Wednesday.
Between May 2010 and November last year, he is said to have obtained sexual gratification from three women separately, in exchange for advancing the business interests of their companies with the SCDF. It is the biggest graft case involving a public servant in two decades.
Other venues for the 10 alleged trysts included public carparks from Stadium Walk to Big Splash East Coast, a hotel in Paris and a flat in Clementi.
According to a source close to the investigations, the use of the word 'obtain' in the court documents is significant. The word was used after consideration and 'for a purpose', the source said.
Other lawyers, such as Mr Foo Cheow Ming, also pointed out that the word 'accept' would have been used if it was the women who offered sex and the man said 'yes'.
Mr Foo, a criminal lawyer, added: 'When it says he 'obtained' gratification, it means he had asked the women for it.'
All three women named in the charges held senior positions in their companies.
The other two are Ms Pang Chor Mui, a general manager at Nimrod Engineering, and Ms Lee Wei Hoon, a director at the Singapore Radiation Centre (SRC).
NCS and Nimrod were vendors providing products or services to the SCDF, and the SRC was described as a potential vendor.
In the IT and technology industry, it is not unheard of for sales people to pull out all the stops when trying to win projects, said those in the industry.
For those in procurement, commission sometimes makes up almost half of their pay packages.
The three women have tried to stay under the radar amid heightened public curiosity about their backgrounds. Searches online for their photographs and biodata threw up scant credible information.
Ms Lee and Ms Pang, both in their 40s, are married and still work for the same companies. Ms Goh, said to be unmarried, is no longer with NCS.
Ms Pang is on leave from her post at Nimrod Engineering, while Ms Lee was not at the SRC's office in Tuas when reporters visited the premises yesterday. The SRC receptionist added that all her top management 'are out of town'.
A colleague of Ms Pang's said that co-workers had no clue shehad been involved in the case.
'We are all surprised,' he said.
Another colleague said the general manager always had a ready smile.
'She is friendly and simple,' he added.
A neighbour of Ms Lee, who lives in a flat in the west, said that she lives with her husband and has a son in primary school.
Lim is due back in court on July5. If convicted, he could be jailed for up to five years and fined a maximum of $100,000 on each charge.
The prosecution said that if he pleads guilty, it will proceed on three charges and take the rest into consideration.
The Home Affairs Ministry said last night that the women involved in the case are no longer servicing SCDF's accounts. It added that it was reviewing two contracts that the SCDF signed when Lim was directly involved as a member of the tender approval committee.
'The Ministry took immediate action to suspend all outstanding tenders involving Mr Peter Lim and the persons implicated in the case once we knew he was under investigation by CPIB,' said a ministry spokesman.
PSC suspends disciplinary proceedings
By Tham Yuen-C, The Straits Times, 8 Jun 2012
By Tham Yuen-C, The Straits Times, 8 Jun 2012
THE Public Service Commission (PSC) has suspended disciplinary proceedings against former Singapore Civil Defence Force chief (SCDF) Peter Lim, pending the outcome of his corruption case.
The commission will await the court's ruling on the 10 corruption charges against Lim, 52, by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau on Wednesday.
In reply to The Straits Times yesterday, the PSC secretariat said that when public servants are charged in a criminal court, the civil service disciplinary process will take place only after the court rules on the case.
As the body that oversees the discipline of some 76,000 public servants, the PSC can dismiss, demote or fine a public servant who is found guilty of serious wrongdoing. For less serious offences, a public servant may be let off with a warning, asked to retire or allowed to resign.
Internal disciplinary proceedings against Lim began after his arrest on Jan 4 this year. He was subsequently interdicted, or suspended from duty with his salary docked, on Jan 25 by the PSC.
Lim was charged in court with 10 counts of corruption involving sex with three women executives seeking SCDF contracts for their companies.
He is scheduled to return to court on July 5 for a pre-trial conference on the case.
No charges yet against women in SCDF graft case
Lawyers say they may face bribery rap; CPIB says investigation ongoing
By Tham Yuen-C & Leonard Lim, The Straits Times, 7 Jun 2012
THE three women named in court yesterday for allegedly having sex with Peter Lim, the former Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) chief, may face charges of bribery, said lawyers yesterday.
Lawyers say they may face bribery rap; CPIB says investigation ongoing
By Tham Yuen-C & Leonard Lim, The Straits Times, 7 Jun 2012
THE three women named in court yesterday for allegedly having sex with Peter Lim, the former Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) chief, may face charges of bribery, said lawyers yesterday.
While they have not been charged, the authorities have not yet put them in the clear. A Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) spokesman said it was still looking into the case.
All three women are high-ranking IT professionals who allegedly traded sexual favours with Lim to secure business deals for their companies. Two of them are in their 40s. Lawyers said that Ms Pang Chor Mui, Ms Lee Wei Hoon and Ms Esther Goh Tok Mui could be charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act, which carries a maximum sentence of a $100,000 fine and five years in prison.
Mr Foo Cheow Ming, a criminal lawyer, said CPIB graft cops may consider a lesser charge if the women testified against Lim.
Or, they may not be charged. Criminal lawyer Subhas Anandan said they may be given immunity in exchange for their testimonies.
Asked about this, the CPIB spokesman declined comment.
Ms Pang and Ms Lee, who are both married, are still working for their employers. Ms Pang is a general manager at Nimrod Engineering, and Ms Lee is a director at Singapore Radiation Centre.
Ms Goh has left NCS, where she was a director of business development when the alleged dealings took place. An NCS spokesman said its employees were expected to uphold integrity.
Mr Y.C. Lee, a sales manager at Nimrod Engineering, said the company was 'not involved in all this', and that employees were advised not to comment on the case.
A spokesman for Singapore Radiation Centre also declined comment, and said its management executives were all out of town.
The Ministry of Home Affairs said all three companies had provided IT and other products to the SCDF, but did not reveal what contracts were awarded.
Nimrod Engineering, which provides security systems, and NCS, an IT services firm, were the SCDF's vendors. Singapore Radiation Centre, a subsidiary of engineering company IPS, also had commercial ties with the SCDF.
When The Straits Times visited Ms Lee's flat yesterday, no one was home. In an online staff profile at a firm where she had previously worked, she was described as having a 'happy and stay- healthy attitude towards life, as she believes they are her wealth'.
Ms Pang, reportedly a personal friend of Lim's for many years, was also not at her Siglap apartment yesterday. When contacted, she said: 'I'm sorry, I don't want to comment.'
'No word' on whether former CNB chief will be charged
By Leonard Lim, The Straits Times, 7 Jun 2012
By Leonard Lim, The Straits Times, 7 Jun 2012
FORMER Central Narcotics Bureau chief Ng Boon Gay has not received any indication of whether he will be charged with corruption, his lawyer told The Straits Times yesterday.
Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng, who is representing Mr Ng, said they had not been advised on when and whether he had to appear in court.
'Boon Gay is naturally anxious about the outcome of his representations. Apart from that, he is managing as well as can be under the circumstances,' Mr Tan said.
Mr Ng, 44, was arrested on Dec 19 last year under the Prevention of Corruption Act, two weeks before former Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) commissioner Peter Lim was nabbed.
Lim was charged in court yesterday with 10 counts of corruption. He is accused of receiving sexual favours in exchange for helping three women further their business dealings with the SCDF.
He and Mr Ng were suspended from their duties from Jan 25, amid allegations of 'serious personal misconduct' that revolve around women and the tender processes called for IT-related deals. The investigations on the two men are separate.
Since his suspension, Mr Ng has spent most of his time with his family and close friends, occasionally reading and exercising, said Mr Tan.
Mr Ng is also under investigation by the civil service to determine if he will have to face civil service disciplinary action. This is separate from any criminal proceedings in court.
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