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Former SCDF chief gets 6 months’ jail

SINGAPORE — Corruption offences, especially those committed by high-ranking public officials, will not be tolerated by the courts, District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim said yesterday when sentencing former Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) Commissioner Peter Lim Sin Pang to six months’ jail in a sex-for-contracts case.

The Judge agreed with prosecutors that Lim, 53, had tarnished the Government’s image of being “transparent and fair” in all its dealings, as well as undermined the integrity of its procurement process.

Lim, who was the highest-ranking officer in the SCDF, was expected to lead by example and “display unimpeachable conduct”. His actions instead caused the authority to suffer “embarrassment” and “a loss of reputation”, said Judge Hamidah.

She added: “I found it totally unacceptable that, instead of upholding the trust reposed in him, the accused had engaged in corrupt behaviour that brought disrepute to the high office he held ... Considering the vast amount of public disquiet that the present case has generated, a deterrent sentence is clearly warranted.”

Lim was found guilty on May 31 of corruptly obtaining oral sex from Ms Pang Chor Mui, 49, in exchange for business favours with the SCDF. He also admitted to the facts in seven similar corruption charges involving two other women: Ms Kelly Lee Wei Hoon, the Director of Singapore Radiation Centre; and Ms Esther Goh Tok Mui, the Director of Business Development of NCS. These seven charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

Lim was acquitted on two remaining corruption charges, after the Prosecution applied to withdraw them. Defence lawyers Hamidul Haq and K Bala Chandran said Lim has filed a notice of appeal against the sentence, calling it “excessive”. “It is disappointing but definitely we will do our best to make sure that justice prevails in the end,” Mr Haq told reporters.

Defence lawyers had sought a “hefty fine” or a short jail term, as they argued last week that Lim’s actions were “within the lower end of the spectrum of criminality”. Prosecutors, who pressed for a five-month jail term, countered that a non-custodial sentence would make a “mockery” of other public servants who were sent to jail for corruption.

Judge Hamidah yesterday pointed out that the courts have consistently taken “a firm, no-nonsense approach” in the sentencing of corruption cases. “In this present case, a fine will not be appropriate because it would trivialise the severity of corruption committed by a high-ranking public official, namely the Commissioner of the SCDF,” she said.

Judge Hamidah also dismissed the defence argument that Lim’s case was “unique” because it involved only oral sex, and not money or sex. “The form in which corrupt gratification takes has no bearing on the severity of the corrupt act, especially in the public sector”.

Judge Hamidah was also “not persuaded” by defence lawyers’ argument that a distinction should be drawn between Lim, who held the apex position in SCDF, and other lower-ranking officers with law enforcement powers. “To do so would send the wrong signal that corruption committed by senior civil servants, provided that they are not law enforcement officers, is less severe than corruption involving any police officer, however junior,” she said.

Judge Hamidah, however, rejected the Prosecution’s argument that Lim’s conduct during the trial suggested a lack of remorse. While she found that Lim had conducted his defence in a “distasteful” manner, it was not “so egregious” as to constitute an aggravating factor, said the Judge.

She added, “Finally, I should add that with every misdemeanour that a public servant commits, especially a high ranking officer, that it has the effect of lowering, in the eyes of the public, the standing of the institution he serves and unfairly casts a negative light on the public service as a whole. With every public servant’s fall from grace, the confidence in the public service is affected and that is a fact which I could not ignore.”

The Ministry of Home Affairs said yesterday that civil service disciplinary proceedings against Lim will be suspended until the criminal proceedings have concluded. Lim, who could have been jailed up to five years and fined up to S$100,000 for each charge, is currently out on a S$15,000 bail.

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