Judge acquits Ng Boon Gay of sex-for-contract charges

SINGAPORE - After a 15 day trial spanning four and a half months, the most high profile graft trial in decades here has come to a close - pending a possible appeal by the Prosecution - with former Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) Director Ng Boon Gay being granted an acquittal amounting to a discharge on all four of his four corruption charges this afternoon. As District Judge Siva Shanmugam delivered his verdict, the courtroom filled with Mr Ng's supporters broke out in applause and Mr Ng's wife wiped away her tears. Mr Ng, who was visibly nervous throughout the one hour that the Judge read out his judgement, declined to speak to reporters after the trial. But his lawyer, Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng told reporters that "it's very nice to get an acquittal on Valentine's Day". In his judgement, the District Judge said he accepted that Ms Sue was seeking dealings with the CNB, but the issue at hand with regard to the charges was whether Mr Ng believed that she was seeking to further her business interests, and whether there was a corrupt element in the sexual transactions. The Judge said he did not find that Ms Cecilia Sue offered fellatio as an inducement. Judge Shanmugam said he did not find Ms Sue "as someone who could easily be taken advantage of". And the "graphic description of sexual encounters" and other evidence in the form of text messages also pointed to a "consensual relationship at all times" between the two. While he agreed with the Prosecution in impeaching Ms Sue's credit as a witness, with regard to the nature of her relationship with Mr Ng, the Judge disagreed with the Prosecution's call to impeach Ng's credit, whose testimonies he found to be mainly consistent. 46-year-old Ng was charged with four counts of allegedly obtaining oral sex from Ms Sue, in exchange for helping to further the business interests of her employers Hitachi Data Systems and Oracle Corporation Singapore between July and December 2011.