NParks officer ordered to give his defence

NParks officer ordered to give his defence

The National Parks Board (NParks) assistant director on trial for lying to auditors has been ordered by a district court to give his defence.

The court ruled yesterday that the nine witnesses who testified so far had given enough evidence against Bernard Lim Yong Soon to continue with the trial, which began on March 11.

Bernard Lim, 42, oversaw a controversial $57,200 deal to buy 26 Brompton bicycles in 2012 from supplier Bikehop.

He is charged with lying to the National Development Ministry (MND) that he did not know Bikehop director Lawrence Lim Chun How before the firm put in the sole bid to supply the foldable bikes.

He is also alleged to have instigated Mr Lawrence Lim to perpetuate the lie.

Mr Lawrence Lim, who was the first to take the stand, had testified that he had met Bernard Lim at a cycling event in 2011, and that Bernard Lim tipped him off about the tender and revealed its budget, and later told him over the phone not to tell anybody about their relationship.

Three MND staff had told the court that Bernard Lim told them he first met Mr Lawrence Lim in March 2012. An anti-graft officer, meanwhile, testified last week that Bernard Lim told him that he had lied out of fear of being disciplined.

Yesterday, defence lawyer Lawrence Ang said his client will take the stand to give his side of the story.

On Tuesday, he had urged the court to acquit Bernard Lim without calling for his defence.

He said his client had not broken the law even if his actions might have been "morally reprehensible". The lawyer also said there were deficiencies in the prosecution's case, such as vagueness in the charges, the auditors' lack of authority to investigate the relationship between the two men, and lapses during a probe by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB). Mr Ang said Mr Lawrence Lim had testified that Bernard Lim asked him to "try not to tell anybody" that they knew each other but the lawyer said this was, at best, a "request of a general nature" to hide the relationship, rather than an instigation to lie to the auditors.

However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Andre Jumabhoy yesterday said Bernard Lim covered up his relationship with Mr Lawrence Lim and told him not to reveal the link because he feared being investigated and disciplined - something Bernard Lim later admitted to the CPIB.

Bernard Lim's act in asking Mr Lawrence Lim not to reveal their relationship, he said, should be understood in the context of the scrutiny the deal received following a newspaper report. Then, Bernard Lim's superiors wanted to know whether the two men were Facebook friends. He had also asked Mr Lawrence Lim to "unfriend" him on Facebook.

"There is no requirement that the accused needs to have battered the first witness into submission," the DPP said.

Bernard Lim, who is suspended from his job, does not face any corruption charges. If convicted, he can be jailed for up to a year and fined up to $5,000. The trial, before District Judge Marvin Bay, resumes on April 14.

 

This article was published on April 4 in The Straits Times.

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