By Rennie Whang
The New Paper
Friday, Jan 25, 2013
SINGAPORE - One's a mystery woman who followed a Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) investigator and his wife in town and took a picture of him .
Another is a former law student at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and a prosecution witness.
Both were linked to Professor Tey Tsun Hang, 41, who is in court for allegedly corruptly receiving gifts and sex from his former student, Miss Darinne Ko Wen Hui, 23, in a sex-for-grades trial.
Details of both emerged on Monday as CPIB officer, Mr Thomas Cheo, was quizzed by Deputy Public Prosecutor Yau Pui Man.
Mr Cheo was sent to Alexandra Hospital to check on Tey the day after he was warded, and again the next day when his discharge was expected.
He was also, he said, tasked on April 2 last year to interview a person related to the case - Ms Brenda Chong, Tey's former student at NUS.
This was the same day that Tey and Miss Ko were picked up. By 10.30am that day, CPIB deputy director Teng Khee Fatt had, based on Miss Ko's information, ordered three teams of officers to bring in three students - two men and a woman.
While never previously discussed in court, Ms Chong was on Day 1 of the trial listed as one of 14 witnesses originally scheduled to be called to testify.
Mystery woman
The topic of the mystery woman subsequently came up as Mr Cheo, an officer of 14 years, was asked if he met Tey again after the trips to hospital in April last year.
No, he said.
"But outside of CPIB, yes."
He said he couldn't remember the date but it was an evening after work, probably in July last year - the same month Tey was charged in court.
Mr Cheo said he was at Ion Orchard to meet his wife for dinner. They were travelling down an escalator when he noticed Tey and a woman going up in the opposite direction.
Tey looked at him, and directed his companion's attention to the investigator, he said.
After he stepped off the escalator, Mr Cheo said he continued walking with his wife, with Tey and the woman tailing him from a distance.
"Then the lady suddenly came up to me with a handphone. I believe she took a picture of me."
Tey and the woman then walked away, he said.
Nothing more was said of the alleged incident as it marked the conclusion of Mr Cheo's testimony.
Its occurrence was subsequently ignored by Tey, who said he had no questions for Mr Cheo.
"I have sparse recollection of what happened the day I was discharged," Tey said.
It's unclear if the woman is Tey's wife, who is understood to be overseas.
Monday's session was the continuation of a trial-within-a-trial. Tey is arguing that his statements to CPIB, in which he admitted to corruption with intent, should not be admitted because they were made under duress.
An investigator revealed that during his time at CPIB, Tey was crying at one point, speaking of how he felt if the case was to be made public.
Said Mr Michael Oh, who was sent to check on him at lunchtime on April 2: "He was sobbing, head hung low, seated on the bench. I remember hearing him say 'It's so shameful, what should I be thinking?'."
Tey hadn't responded when asked how he was and it took some persuasion for him to eat.
"I told him to take his meal because of the earlier conversation he had with his mother, when he promised (her) he would take care of himself," Mr Oh said.
Tey's listlessness at the Bureau also appeared to have irked a CPIB officer, assistant director Raymond Wee, who said yesterday he had looked into Tey's room during the time he claimed to be unwell.
Despite the presence of a table and bench, Tey was crouching in a corner of the room, and twice did not answer when Mr Wee asked what the matter was.
"I asked him, 'Why are you on the floor? Why don't you go to the bench? He ignored me and just gave a look.
"Then I told him, 'Why, CPIB's bench not good enough for you?' Then I left," he said.
Special investigators Cheo, Wee, Oh and another, Mr Hasvind Elangovan, were called on Monday as Tey had previously made allegations against officers he could not identify, despite a photo book of officers offered to him.
But Tey declined to cross-examine them. He said he had "sparse memory" both of the day he was sent to hospital and when he was discharged, and did not recognise the officers.
As Mr Teng also took the stand, Tey said he begged him to show stubs from a cheque book to Miss Ko, allegedly payment for the gifts he received from her.
"(I) even knelt down before you, pleading with you in Chinese to have some mercy, look into what (I) was trying to explain to you," he said to Mr Teng.
But Mr Teng said that, in all his interviews with Tey, he had never cried or knelt down in front of him, or made the statement in Mandarin.
Mr Teng, who recorded Tey's last three of six statements to the CPIB on May 17, 18 and 24, is expected to continue testifying on Tuesday.
The New Paper
Friday, Jan 25, 2013
SINGAPORE - One's a mystery woman who followed a Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) investigator and his wife in town and took a picture of him .
Another is a former law student at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and a prosecution witness.
Both were linked to Professor Tey Tsun Hang, 41, who is in court for allegedly corruptly receiving gifts and sex from his former student, Miss Darinne Ko Wen Hui, 23, in a sex-for-grades trial.
Details of both emerged on Monday as CPIB officer, Mr Thomas Cheo, was quizzed by Deputy Public Prosecutor Yau Pui Man.
Mr Cheo was sent to Alexandra Hospital to check on Tey the day after he was warded, and again the next day when his discharge was expected.
He was also, he said, tasked on April 2 last year to interview a person related to the case - Ms Brenda Chong, Tey's former student at NUS.
This was the same day that Tey and Miss Ko were picked up. By 10.30am that day, CPIB deputy director Teng Khee Fatt had, based on Miss Ko's information, ordered three teams of officers to bring in three students - two men and a woman.
While never previously discussed in court, Ms Chong was on Day 1 of the trial listed as one of 14 witnesses originally scheduled to be called to testify.
Mystery woman
The topic of the mystery woman subsequently came up as Mr Cheo, an officer of 14 years, was asked if he met Tey again after the trips to hospital in April last year.
No, he said.
"But outside of CPIB, yes."
He said he couldn't remember the date but it was an evening after work, probably in July last year - the same month Tey was charged in court.
Mr Cheo said he was at Ion Orchard to meet his wife for dinner. They were travelling down an escalator when he noticed Tey and a woman going up in the opposite direction.
Tey looked at him, and directed his companion's attention to the investigator, he said.
After he stepped off the escalator, Mr Cheo said he continued walking with his wife, with Tey and the woman tailing him from a distance.
"Then the lady suddenly came up to me with a handphone. I believe she took a picture of me."
Tey and the woman then walked away, he said.
Nothing more was said of the alleged incident as it marked the conclusion of Mr Cheo's testimony.
Its occurrence was subsequently ignored by Tey, who said he had no questions for Mr Cheo.
"I have sparse recollection of what happened the day I was discharged," Tey said.
It's unclear if the woman is Tey's wife, who is understood to be overseas.
Monday's session was the continuation of a trial-within-a-trial. Tey is arguing that his statements to CPIB, in which he admitted to corruption with intent, should not be admitted because they were made under duress.
An investigator revealed that during his time at CPIB, Tey was crying at one point, speaking of how he felt if the case was to be made public.
Said Mr Michael Oh, who was sent to check on him at lunchtime on April 2: "He was sobbing, head hung low, seated on the bench. I remember hearing him say 'It's so shameful, what should I be thinking?'."
Tey hadn't responded when asked how he was and it took some persuasion for him to eat.
"I told him to take his meal because of the earlier conversation he had with his mother, when he promised (her) he would take care of himself," Mr Oh said.
Tey's listlessness at the Bureau also appeared to have irked a CPIB officer, assistant director Raymond Wee, who said yesterday he had looked into Tey's room during the time he claimed to be unwell.
Despite the presence of a table and bench, Tey was crouching in a corner of the room, and twice did not answer when Mr Wee asked what the matter was.
"I asked him, 'Why are you on the floor? Why don't you go to the bench? He ignored me and just gave a look.
"Then I told him, 'Why, CPIB's bench not good enough for you?' Then I left," he said.
Special investigators Cheo, Wee, Oh and another, Mr Hasvind Elangovan, were called on Monday as Tey had previously made allegations against officers he could not identify, despite a photo book of officers offered to him.
But Tey declined to cross-examine them. He said he had "sparse memory" both of the day he was sent to hospital and when he was discharged, and did not recognise the officers.
As Mr Teng also took the stand, Tey said he begged him to show stubs from a cheque book to Miss Ko, allegedly payment for the gifts he received from her.
"(I) even knelt down before you, pleading with you in Chinese to have some mercy, look into what (I) was trying to explain to you," he said to Mr Teng.
But Mr Teng said that, in all his interviews with Tey, he had never cried or knelt down in front of him, or made the statement in Mandarin.
Mr Teng, who recorded Tey's last three of six statements to the CPIB on May 17, 18 and 24, is expected to continue testifying on Tuesday.
even CPIB officer also corrupted! judgment begins @ home!
