SINGAPORE — Prosecutors yesterday applied to impeach the credibility of former Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) Commissioner Peter Lim in his sex-for-contracts trial, after pointing out a string of inconsistencies between his testimonies in court and his statements to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) early last year.

Lim, 52, who took the witness stand in his own defence for the second day, is accused of corruptly obtaining oral sex in May 2010 from Ms Pang Chor Mui, 49, in exchange for business opportunities between the SCDF and Nimrod Engineering, where she served as General Manager.

One point of contention was Lim’s relationship with Ms Pang, which he told the court was a “close one”, although they had lost contact from 2000 to 2009.

This contradicted his CPIB statements, in which he said they exchanged greeting cards and went for lunches occasionally but were “not friends per se”, the prosecution noted.

Lim also told the court that he and Ms Pang did not discuss work during their lunch dates. However, according to the CPIB statements, Lim had said he and Ms Pang had exchanged name cards and that she would “occasionally” make “casual remarks” about how the SCDF could call her if it required “anything that Nimrod (could) supply”.

Also revealed yesterday was that Lim had admitted in his statements to the CPIB — which were submitted to the court as evidence before the hearings — that he had thought to have sex with Ms Pang once to “satisfy her need” and that the “opportunity” to do so came on the night of May 2, 2010.

He also said he had asked Ms Pang “directly” if she wanted to have sex with him. However, in court on Monday, Lim said their sexual encounter on May 2 had been a “spontaneous” one and he had no other intention except to “catch up” with her when he asked her for a lift home that night.

Yesterday, Lim disputed the CPIB statement and said it was a “mistake”. He said he did not remember asking Ms Pang to have sex with him, and his intention was to “offer” Ms Pang sex if she suggested so. This was after a lunch date where she had told him that she wanted to have sex with him.

The prosecution also highlighted his testimonies about calling Ms Pang and a “Kelly” from IPS Securex on March 17, 2011, to secure radiation portal monitors, which the SCDF had wanted to procure at the time.

Lim had said in his CPIB statements that he wanted to call them so they could “bring in the stock” in time for the tender. Both companies eventually submitted a bid.

In response, Lim said he could not recollect what happened when he recorded his CPIB statements. He told the court that at the time of him calling the suppliers, the SCDF had not planned to call a tender and had been looking for the machines on an “immediate basis”.

He also said he had thought about a conflict of interest when he called the two suppliers, but “took the gamble” because securing the machines had been a “national emergency”.

Lim’s cross-examination continues today.