Ng Boon Gay with his wife Ng Yen Yen
2 October 2012. Lead deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Tan Ken Hwee asked the court for more time to determine if he needs to call up witnesses from the CPIB. He clarified that it was because assertions that Sue’s statements or evidence were deemed unreliable and contradictory. He asserted that Sue gave the statements voluntarily and therefore he may have to call the CPIB officers who recorded the statements to clarify this to the court. Counsel Tan Chee Meng, who represents Ng, objected, saying that the only unclear area was whether Ms Sue had a physical or intimate relationship with Ng. And he said Ms Sue has clarified in court that they had an intimate relationship. But DPP Tan said the issue arose from questions put to Ms Sue by the defence, so he now has to decide if he wants to summon the CPIB officers who recorded her statements. After hearing arguments from both parties, district judge Siva Shanmugam gave the prosecution until Friday to tell the defence if it intends to summon more witnesses. Almost immediately after Sue was sworn in Judge Siva Shanmugam allowed her to leave the court as Ng’s senior counsel decided not to cross-examine her. Her earlier testimony left many wondering what lies ahead for her. She told CPIB that long running sexual relationship with Ng, only to deny it all in the court. Both prosecution and defence accused her of lying. This raises the question whether she will be charged for perjury. The judge will have to decide one way or another. Three new prosecution witnesses also testified today. Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) deputy director Marvin Sim Wai Meng took the stand as a prosecution witness on the sixth day of sex-for-contracts trial involving ex-CNB chief Ng Boon Gay. He explained the procurement process at CNB. He said that that while Ng was chief of CNB he had the “final quotation approving authority” for procurements below the value of $1 million. He said that the chief was not obliged to provide any reason for rejecting a procurement proposal. But, he said that to the best of his knowledge Ng did not exercise his authority to reject any proposal. CNB’s Department Technology Office (DTO) originates a procurement proposal. At the end of Sim’s testimony, the defence counsel, Tan Chee Meng, requested for the prosecution to submit two new documents – the quotation prepared by Cecilia Sue for an IT project as well as the CNB’s budget review meeting minutes. The prosecution agreed to this, but sought the judge’s understanding that they would need time to look through the documents and “redact” sensitive information relating to CNB’s operations. Gunaravi Rajendran, the vice-president and general manager of Hitachi Data Systems ASEAN, then took the stand. He explained how Cecilia Sue was recruited and her role in the company. In a reply to the defence counsel he said that he was not aware of any impropriety in Sue’s work except for what they saw in the papers. He revealed that a “factual review” was conducted by the company after news of the investigation broke, but it was conducted on a “corporate level” and he has not seen the results of the review yet. Ministry of Finance deputy director Anita Lai Wai Cheng was called to the stand as the prosecution’s fifth witness later in the afternoon. She explained the procurement policies and evaluation of tenders. “When it doubt, err on the safe side and declare any conflict of interest,” she said in an answer to prosecution’s question. The trial will resume on 31 October 2012.
