By Former Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) chief Ng Boon Gay will be claiming trial for all four charges of corruption in the sex-for-favours case.
The 46-year old has been accused of obtaining sexual favours – all in the form of oral sex – from Cecilia Sue Siew Nang, a sales manager of two IT vendors, in return for "furthering the business interests" of the companies she was working for.
Sue was a sales manager with Hitachi Data Systems from June to
November 2011. It was during this period that Ng’s first two offences
were committed. Sue joined Oracle Corporation Singapore a month later as
senior sales manager.
According to the charge sheets, the first
two alleged sexual encounters took place when Sue was in Hitachi – the
first between June and July last year, and the between last October and
November. The third and fourth incidents allegedly happened in December
when Sue was in Oracle. The specific locations, however, were not
stated.
Ng’s lawyers - senior counsel Tan Chee Meng and Melanie Ho from WongPartnership – had previously refrained from deciding if Ng would claim trial pending the release of more information and how the charges against Ng had helped “further the business interests” of the companies.
In a media statement on Thursday afternoon, the lawyers said they have yet to be provided with the requested information.
"We will raise as a preliminary point before the trial judge the generality of the charges and the prejudice which our client will face in the conduct of his defence. We firmly remain of the view that the 4 charges as currently drafted are too general as it is insufficient to allege in the charges:
“an act in relation to the principal’s affairs” – without stating what the alleged corrupt acts were; “by assisting to further the business interest of Hitachi/Oracle” – without specifying what “business interests” were involved".
The defense lawyers hope to obtain clarity on the allegations so the client can "properly defend the charges he face".
Ng’s wife, Yap Yen Yen, previously voiced her support for him in a statement and said she never doubted his professional integrity.
Singaporean director Anthony Chen described as “surreal” the 15-minute standing ovation that followed the world premiere of his debut feature film "Ilo Ilo" at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday. Though the ending of the premiere couldn’t have been more perfect, the 29-year-old Chen said the beginning was quite “nerve-wrecking” as it was marred by technical glitches.