SINGAPORE — A day after the supplier of 26 Brompton bikes said he was asked to lie about his friendship with the National Parks Board (NParks) Assistant Director implicated in the case, he said the latter had not insisted on it and that no agreement was made to do so.

The court heard this on the second day of a trial where 42-year-old Bernard Lim Yong Soon is fighting two counts of giving false information to Ministry of National Development officers, who were conducting an internal audit of NParks’ purchase of the bicycles between June and July 2012.

Lim, who was overseeing the purchase, had allegedly denied being a friend of Mr Lawrence Lim Chun How, Director of BikeHop Singapore, which won the tender to supply the bicycles.

On Tuesday, 42-year-old Lawrence Lim said the accused had asked him to try to avoid mentioning their friendship to NParks or MND auditors.

Yesterday, however, he said Lim had at no time insisted he lie to the authorities.

During the defence’s cross-examination, Mr Lawrence Lim also said no agreement had been made between the two to hide their friendship from the officers.

Two other witnesses took the stand yesterday — NParks Resource Management Director Yong Fook Chyi, who was roped in to review procurement processes, and Mr Wesley Su, then-Manager at NParks, who was involved in the tender.

Mr Su told the court the accused had asked him to award the tender as soon as possible, after learning that the quotation was within the budget.

The trial continues today with MND officers slated to take the stand.