SINGAPORE — National Parks Board (NParks) assistant director Bernard Lim Yong Soon has been fined S$5,000 for lying about his friendship to auditors from the Ministry of National Development (MND).

Lim, who is currently suspended from his job, was convicted last month of lying to auditors from the MND in 2012 over a S$57,200 Brompton bicycles deal.

However, district judge Marvin Bay cleared Lim of a second charge of instigating the supplier to hide their friendship from auditors, noting that the supplier himself was driven by fear of being caught in a lie.

This morning (June 10), Deputy Public Prosecutor Andre Jumabhoy pressed for a jail term of three to four months, arguing that there was “pre-meditation” in Lim’s case as he had continued to lie despite being found out by auditors.

However, defence lawyer Lawrence Ang argued that there was “no evidence of any corruption”. He also told the court that a jail term was not warranted and was “too severe” even if it was a short-term jail sentence.

Lim could be jailed up to a year and/or fined up to S$5,000.