The prosecution will file an appeal against the acquittal of two men who were previously accused of bribes against a director of the Land Transport Authority ( LTA ) in Singapore.
Following a discovery of errors in the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau ( CPIB ) statement-taking process, a judge granted the two men, Mr. Pay Teow Heng and Mr. Pek Lian Guan, a discharge amounting to an acquittal last Friday ( October 11 ).  ,
After recently telling CNA that it was studying the court’s verdict and would decide on the next course of action following the hearing, the Attorney-General’s Chambers filed an appeal against the conviction on Monday.  ,
After a test, where the two CPIB soldiers who took Mr Pay and Mr Pek’s claims testified, District Judge Soh Tze Bian ruled that the claims were “inaccurate” and “unreliable”. He acquitted both of their individual expenses.  ,
Mr Pek, 59, was the CEO and president of posted business Tiong Seng Holdings, while Mr Pay, 56, a producer of Tiong Seng Contractors. Both had been indicted in July of this year for allegedly accepting bribes from former LTA assistant team producer Henry Foo Yung Thye.  ,
Mr Pay was accused of giving S$ 350, 000 ( US$ 267, 000 ) to Foo over two occasions in 2017 and 2018 to advance Tiong Seng’s business interest with LTA in respect of contracts, while Mr Pek was accused of abetting Mr Pay.
Judge Soh said that the key elements he looked into included the actions of the CPIB officials, who had taken the two men’s statements into account.  ,
The investigating officer ( IO ) who had taken Mr Pay’s second statement, Mr Chris Lim, admitted to approaching the interview with a “preconceived notion” that Mr Pay had committed some form of offence.
His strategy had been “mischievous and easily careful,” with Mr. Pay’s statements being recorded that could be interpreted as incriminating and omitting any possible evidence that might have led to his exoneration. Mr. Lim was referred to as having “blatant disregard for the truth” while being recorded by the prosecutor.  ,
The accuracy of another IO’s recording of Mr. Pek’s speech was even questioned. The Dai, known simply as Jeffrey in court papers, had used a” cut-and-paste approach” to assemble the statement.
Mr Pek’s speech contained repeated self-incriminating notes, which the judge thought were” not a devout picture” of what he had said as it indicated an effort to emphasise his guilt.
The judge determined that the speech was “more a solution of IO Jeffrey’s author than an accurate account of what Pek really communicated.”  ,
Judge Soh found that the trial had erred by denying any further evidence that it had been able to support its case against the two people.  ,