Ex-SCDF chief Peter Lim starts serving six-month jail term
[Update on 26 June: Adding Lim's commencement of jail term]
Ex-Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) commissioner Peter Lim Sin Pang started serving his six-month jail term on Wednesday afternoon, according to a report in a local newspaper.
According to a report by The Straits Times, Lim was seen surrendering himself at the subordinate courts, dressed in a short-sleeved black shirt and pants, after being earlier sentenced to six months in jail for corruptly obtaining oral sex from Angie Pang Chor Mui in exchange for advancing her business interests.
A further seven charges involving two other women, which he pleaded guilty to earlier this month, were taken into consideration. The remaining two charges against him were withdrawn.
While reading out his sentence earlier this month, District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim stressed that a deterrent one was "clearly warranted" given the "vast amount of public disquiet that the present case has generated".
She noted that an "uncompromising stance" must be taken against all corruption offenders regardless of their standing, adding that a fine, which was what the defence sought, would "trivialise the severity of corruption committed".
"With every public servant's fall from grace, the confidence in the public service is affected and that is a fact which I could not ignore," she said.
Speaking to reporters outside court later on, Lim's defence lawyer Hamidul Haq said the six-month sentence was "in our view on the excessive side" and that it was "disappointing".
"But we will do our best to ensure that justice prevails in the end," he added, clarifying further that Lim's appeal was against his sentence and not his verdict.
Lim, who sat hunched in the dock, rubbed his temples as the sentence was being read out. His existing S$15,000 bail was extended for his lawyers to file a notice of appeal.
"Ridiculous" to not know what he did was wrong: Judge
The former SCDF chief was in end-May found guilty of corruption in the sex-for-contracts trial against him, which centred around one count of oral sex he obtained from 49-year-old Pang in May 2010. She was at the time general manager of Nimrod Engineering.
In reading out Lim's case verdict back then, District Judge Hamidah said it was "downright bizarre and ridiculous" for Lim to say he did not know it was wrong to engage in oral sex with Pang considering he had worked as a public servant for 25 years.
The judge also questioned Lim's credibility, noting that Lim's evidence in court was fraught with inconsistencies with his statements to officers from the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB).
Lim looked emotionless as the verdict was read out by the judge.
The prosecution had contended that Lim, 52, gave instructions to change the 6 April 2011 closed tender for radiation portal monitors to an open one to let Nimrod participate.
The ex-SCDF chief denied it and countered that he was not aware it was a conflict of interest because "nobody pointed it out to him" and that the evaluation process would already have gone though other directors before it came to him for final approval.
During the trial in March, Lim said he consented to oral sex with Pang after she begged "pitifully" and that he had met with Pang with the intention to catch up and chit chat. The oral sex, he said, was spontaneous.
In her decision, the judge noted that Lim was undoubtedly the initiator of the oral sex as he had directed Pang to the spot where it occurred. Hamidah also did not believe there was depth or substance to the relationship between Lim and Pang.
Related stories:
Woman in SCDF sex-for-contracts trial: I gave him oral sex
Sex-for-contracts trial: Star witness grilled over ‘intimate’ relationship with own boss
I didn't stop and analyse... I liked him a lot: woman in ex-SCDF chief Peter Lim's trial
