CPIB probe: NUS law student allegedly had sex with Prof
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Motions filed by sex-case professorSOURCE: THE STRAITS TIMES
THE National University of Singapore (NUS) law professor at the centre of a sex-for-grades scandal has filed two criminal motions – one against the school and the other against the public prosecutor.
In a statement to reporters at the Subordinate Courts after his second pre-trial conference yesterday, Tey Tsun Hang said he was requesting the grades of students from the university, and “critical witness statements” from the public prosecutor.
Criminal motions enable accused people with complaints to have their arguments heard in the High Court.
Tey’s lawyer Peter Low told The Straits Times that he had earlier asked NUS for the grades, but the school had only “given some, but not others”.
One of the grades not given was that of the former student Tey had allegedly been involved with, Ms Darinne Ko Wen Hui.
The professor faces six counts of obtaining gifts and sex from Ms Ko in 2010. The 23-year-old, who graduated from NUS in June, is believed to be working at a law firm here.
A spokesman for the Attorney- General’s Chambers confirmed Tey’s applications but declined to comment further.
“As the matter is fixed for hearing before the High Court, it will not be appropriate for us to comment further,” she said.
When asked about the criminal motion against the university, NUS’ spokesman declined comment as the case is ongoing.
Mr Low said the motion against NUS was filed on Aug 31; the motion against the public prosecutor was filed last Monday.
Both will be heard at the High Court on Sept 24, while the trial for the case is scheduled to start on Oct 15.
In his statement yesterday, Tey said that the public prosecutor had “again pressed for early trial dates”, despite requests by his lawyer for more time to prepare his defence. -
Oh yar hor, the prof is also law prof...
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Sex-for-grades case: NUS professor "coerced into confession"
SINGAPORE: National University of Singapore (NUS) Law professor Tey Tsun Hang, who is at the centre of the sex-for-grades scandal, claims he was coerced into confessing to his alleged offences.
According to his lawyer, Mr Peter Low, Tey was diagnosed with Acute Stress Disorder and Altered Mental Status after he was arrested, and was in a "fragile mental state throughout the interrogation sessions".
Tey faces six corruption charges for allegedly showing favour to his student, Darinne Ko Wen Hui, between May and July 2010.
In a hearing on Monday, Tey's defence counsel, which now includes MP for Aljunied GRC, Sylvia Lim, filed four criminal motions.
The motions were filed against the National University of Singapore, Alexandra Hospital and the prosecution.
Mr Low said he wanted information from NUS on the grades of Ms Ko and four other students.
He said this was "relevant" as his client was "coerced into signing confessions" and "forced into admitting to taking gifts such as tea leaves and obtaining sex in exchange for unjustified favourable grades."
In response, NUS, represented by lawyers from Drew & Napier, said it will comply with the judge's decision on whether NUS has to disclose the grades.
Mr Low also said he wanted Tey's psychiatric and medical reports from Alexandra Hospital.
Mr Low told the court that Tey was on psychoactive drugs when he made his confessions.
He said Tey was rushed to Alexandra Hospital within 12 hours of his arrest and interrogated at the Corrupt Practices Investigations Bureau (CPIB).
The court heard that Tey was then treated and diagnosed with Acute Stress Disorder and Altered Mental Status.
Mr Low added that "false confessions" were extracted from the day Tey was discharged from the hospital right through the last interrogation session.
Mr Low then requested for disclosure of Tey's hospitalisation record, medical prescriptions, and identities of the nurses who attended to him.
But in response, Alexandra Hospital claimed it had already given a "very detailed report" which included such information.
Lawyer for Alexandra Hospital, Ms Kuah Boon Theng, added it will "readily provide" clarifications if Tey's counsel team required more information.
Mr Low also wanted clarification of charges and critical witness statements from the prosecution, to better prepare Tey's defence.
He said this included times and places of the alleged intercourse.
Lastly, the defence counsel also requested for trial dates, which were originally fixed to start three weeks from Monday, to be postponed to mid-December onwards.
Mr Low told the court this is to allow "sufficient time for proper preparation".
He said "the rush for an early trial hampers proper preparation of Tey's defence and prejudices his chances of a fair trial."
A judgement is expected to be given on Tuesday.
- CNA/cc -
ji drama...........
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the prof want to chut pattern liao on technicalities since he is familiar with the law. probably he wants the confessions made under duress by the police, invalid.
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Sex-for-grades case: NUS prof applies to have questions heard in court
SINGAPORE: The National University of Singapore (NUS) law professor linked to a sex-for-grades scandal has applied to the Court of Appeal to have his questions on disclosure of documents heard in the High Court.
This comes after Justice Quentin Loh dismissed Tey Tsun Hang's motion to obtain information from NUS and the prosecution on September 25.
Tey, 41, faces six charges for corruption - allegedly in showing favour to his student, Ms Darinne Ko Wen Hui, between May 2010 and July 2010.
Tey filed the criminal motion on Friday through his lawyers.
Tey's lawyer, Mr Peter Low, told reporters after a pre-trial conference that Tey wanted the Court of Appeal to hear four questions of public interest.
He said the questions involved the disclosure of documents by the prosecution, NUS and Alexandra Hospital, where Tey is a patient.
Tey was rushed to the hospital within 12 hours of his arrest in April.
The Court of Appeal is set to consider Tey's motion in the week starting November 26.
Meanwhile, Mr Low said Tey's trial dates have been tentatively set between January 9 and 22 next year.
Another pre-trial conference will be held on December 5 this year.
- CNA/cc -
Trial of NUS law prof in sex-for-grades to start 10 Jan
SINGAPORE: The sex-for-grades corruption trial against law professor Tey Tsun Hang will begin on 10 January 2013.
In an email to Channel NewsAsia, after a pre-trial conference on Wednesday, Tey said the prosecution has lined up 10 witnesses who will testify.
The prosecution will proceed with all six charges against Tey.
Forty-one-year-old Tey faces six charges of having corruptly obtained gifts and sex from Darinne Ko Wen Hui, who's now 23, in exchange for better grades.
- CNA/ck -
Sex-for-grades NUS prof wants to argue own case
SINGAPORE: The law professor on trial for corruption in a sex-for-grades case will represent himself in his own defence.
The unexpected twist came after Tey Tsun Hang asked the court to allow him to be co-counsel, alongside his lawyer, Mr Peter Low.
But Chief District Judge Tan Siong Thye rejected this request.
Instead, he allowed Mr Low to assist Tey in his trial but not conduct the cross-examinations.
Tey then asked the judge to allow him to conduct the trial out of the dock.
Prosecution objected to the request, saying whether or not Tey conducts his own trial, he's still an accused person.
Forty-one-year-old Tey faces six charges of having corruptly obtained gifts and sex from Ms Darinne Ko Wen Hui, 23, in exchange for better grades.
The Prosecution has lined up 14 witnesses to testify in the trial.
- CNA/ck -
the professor taste very bad... i must say, anyhow pick one of my ex also prettier than that girl... even give discount 50% also very ugly, damn jia lak this professor... pity him, at least want to get into trouble, do it with chio bu mah... aiyo... so jia lak...
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I concur. I believe the professor is now guilty as charged.
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Times are bad.
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i think i read in the feed jus now she gave him her V leh
and he gave her B
damn lu gi liao loh
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Originally posted by FireIce:
grats how many months
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NUS law prof wants prosecution to give information on ex-students' results
SINGAPORE: The National University of Singapore (NUS) law professor on trial for corruption in a sex-for-grades case has asked the prosecution to provide information on the results of a few former students.
Tey Tsun Hang, 41, made the request on Friday.
He's accused of obtaining gratification in the form of gifts and sex from his former student, Darinne Ko Wen Hui, 23, between May and July 2010.
The gifts include tailor-made shirts, an iPod touch and a Montblanc pen.
The prosecution said these were inducements to show favour in his assessment of Ms Ko's academic performance.
Minutes into the second day of the trial, Tey said he filed a criminal motion in the High Court in August last year to ask for information from NUS on the grades of Ms Ko and four other students.
The four students were called up by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau during investigations.
Tey had requested for information on the students' grades to support his assertion that false confessions were extracted from him.
Chief District Judge Tan Siong Thye has ordered the prosecution and defence to sort out issue before continuing with the examination of Ms Ko.
Tey, a former district judge, faces six counts of corruption.
- CNA/ck -
NUS prof in sex-for-grades case to defend himself
SINGAPORE: The National University of Singapore (NUS) law professor who is on trial for corruption in a sex-for-grades case will defend himself in court.
Tey Tsun Hang, 41, made the request in an unexpected twist minutes into the trial on Thursday morning.
Although confusion and disagreement arose over his request, the matter was eventually sorted out after an hour.
Tey appeared to be ready to defend himself. He arrived in court dressed in a grey pin-striped suit. He later changed into a court dress after he asked to defend himself.
He is accused of obtaining gratification in the form of sex on two occasions, as well as gifts including a Montblanc pen, an iPod and tailor-made shirts between May and July 2010.
The prosecution said these were inducements to show favour in his assessment of Ms Darinne Ko Wen Hui's academic performance.
Ninety minutes into the trial, key prosecution witness Darinne Ko was called to the stand.
The 23-year-old former student of Tey said they came to know each other in January 2010.
She told the court she liked Tey as a friend and had given him the 740-dollar Montblanc pen as a belated birthday gift in May 2010.
She also bought him two custom-made shirts worth more than S$230 and an iPod Touch worth S$160 from an online forum as a romantic gesture.
Ms Ko told the court that they were dating at that time, "so it did not seem incongruous" to give Tey gifts.
The court heard that as the two interacted more frequently in April 2010, Tey would meet Ms Ko for lunch about two to three times a week. He would pick her up from her workplace and pay for the lunches.
Tey is also accused of corruptly obtaining gratification in the form of payment of a bill of S$1,280 for a dinner he hosted at Garibaldi restaurant in July 2010.
The dinner for nine was meant to thank his former students, including Ms Ko, for helping him with research work.
But Ms Koh later revealed that after their relationship ended, she asked for Tey to pay her back S$1,000 and he did so.
Some six hours into her testimony, Ms Ko recounted her very first sexual experience, which was with Tey in his NUS office in July 2010. She was clearly distressed as she teared and tried to cover her face with one hand. This was a clear contrast to the calm and collected manner in which she answered other questions.
Ms Ko told the court she had sex with Tey because she loved him.
The court was also told Tey went to the United States in September 2010 to visit her when she was there for an overseas study stint.
But they got found out by Ms Ko's then-boyfriend, who reported the matter to her parents.
Eventually, she was made to cut all ties with Tey and did so.
The prosecution said in its opening statement that Tey had revealed confidential class ranking as well as results to Ms Ko to demonstrate his power over her.
It said Tey had taken advantage of his student and the transactions were "tainted with an objectively corrupt element".
The trial continues.
- CNA/xq -
Key witness in sex-for-grades trial claims CPIB coercion
SINGAPORE: The prosecution in the sex-for-grades corruption trial involving a law professor, turned against its key witness on the second day of the hearing by impeaching her credibility.
It argued on Friday that star witness Darinne Ko Wen Hui's testimony on Thursday had deviated from her first statement to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, taken in April last year.
Tey Tsun Hang, a former district judge, faces six counts of corruptly obtaining gratification in the form of gifts and sex from Ms Ko, between May and July 2010.
The gifts included tailor-made shirts, an iPod Touch and a Montblanc pen.
The prosecution said these were inducements to show favour in Tey's assessment of Ms Ko's academic performance.
In a dramatic twist to the closely-watched trial, Ms Ko said she was coerced into making parts of her first CPIB statement.
She said the CPIB recording officers were only willing to record some of what she told them.
The 23-year-old added that in relation to the gifts she showered on Tey, one CPIB recording officer "received specific orders" to record within the parameters of her agreement "with the (CPIB) boss".
These came minutes after the prosecution applied to impeach her credibility for parts of her testimony made on Thursday.
The swift move follows discrepancies in a few areas, including her amount of interaction with Tey after they broke up and the details of photos taken after they had sex.
Earlier in the day, the prosecution showed Ms Ko photographs of her and Tey, supposedly taken after they had sex.
When asked about some of the photos, Ms Ko said she could not remember when and where it took place. Apparently, this is inconsistent with her statement to the CPIB.
Ms Ko said on Thursday she gave the 740-dollar Montblanc pen to Tey as a belated birthday gift.
But prosecution pointed out that she failed to mention it in any of her CPIB statements.
To this, Ms Ko admitted she had "failed to convey to them (CPIB) at that point in time".
Ms Ko then said that she amended "only parts" of the first statement "which were coerced", in her subsequent statements.
She also said she stated clearly previously that the reasons for the gifts were due to her "feelings of affection" for Tey.
With impeachment, the judge will have to decide at the end of the trial, which parts of Ms Ko's evidence to take into consideration.
The trial started with Tey asking the prosecution for information on his former students' grades, including that of Ms Ko.
Some four hours were spent going through more than 30 applications, of which, six were granted and the rest were deemed irrelevant by Chief District Judge Tan Siong Thye, who denied some of his requests.
At one point in time, he told Tey off for wasting the court's time as some of the information have already been provided.
The trial continues.
- CNA/xq -
Law prof Tey cross-examines ex-student Ko
SINGAPORE: The National University of Singapore (NUS) law professor on trial for corruption in a sex-for-grades cross-examined his former student on Monday.
Tey Tsun Hang, 41, is accused of obtaining gratification in the form of gifts and sex, in exchange for lifting 23-year-old Ms Darinne Ko Wen Hui's grades.
When Ms Ko took the stand, Tey questioned her in a gentle manner.
She gave an account of the circumstances leading to the recording and her endorsement of her first statement made on 2 April 2012.
Ms Ko said she was hauled in by two officers from the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), at about 7am or 8am during the examination period.
She said she was deprived of sleep, felt scared and anxious, and was interrogated until about 7pm before she was brought to see CPIB's deputy director, Teng Khee Fatt.
She said the recording officer had told Mr Teng she had been uncooperative.
Mr Teng, she said, told her that the evidence she gave the CPIB was "not making out the elements of the charge against Tey".
During their two-and-a-half-hour conversation, she said Mr Teng told her that corruption is a two-sided offence and that indemnity could be granted if the need arose.
She also said Mr Teng had wanted her to write that she had given the gifts because she wanted "favour" from Tey but she refused.
The two then argued about the terms to be used and finally settled on the words "undue prejudice", which she took as "treating her unfairly".
"I was slightly more comfortable with that compromise even though it was still not an accurate depiction of the true state of affairs," said Ms Ko.
When asked by Tey what was the true state of affairs, Ms Ko said: "I only bought Prof Tey the gifts because I liked him and we were in a relationship."
But Mr Teng didn't buy this answer, she said.
Ms Ko said he told her that it was not possible for a girl to buy a guy gifts.
She said Mr Teng also insisted that the reason why she bought those gifts was so that Tey would show her favour vis-a-vis her grades.
Ms Ko said she was told she was not allowed to go home until the CPIB recorded a statement from her.
When asked if the statement was accurate, Ms Ko said it wasn't.
She said the inaccuracy pertained to her motivation for showering Tey with gifts.
Earlier in the day, the prosecution went through the impeached parts of the statements and evidence provided by Ms Ko.
Lead prosecutor Andre Jumabhoy singled out differences in areas such as the time that Tey had called Ms Ko and revealed to her confidential ranking and grades before the release of the results.
Ms Ko had told the CPIB that Tey had called at about 11am but told the court last week that he called a few minutes before the official release of the results.
Another area was the bill for the Garibaldi dinner, which she had paid.
With impeachment, the judge will decide at the end of the trial which parts of evidence to take into consideration.
- CNA/ck -
the red couch bery happening
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The couch used to be another colour.
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Originally posted by charlize:
The couch used to be another colour.
Dey, truely, let me be crude...if ur hymen break and u lost sooo much blood to stain a couch into red, u'll be dead already...
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I saw the pictures, it really is a red couch.
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Prosecution witness tells court Tey didn't ask for gifts
SINGAPORE: National University of Singapore law professor Tey Tsun Hang, 41, on trial for corruption in a sex-for-grades case said he had paid for the gifts he received from his former student, Ms Darinne Ko.
Tey, who said this on Day 4 of the hearing on Tuesday, also produced cheque book entries in court.
This came after 23-year-old Ms Ko, the prosecution's star witness, told the court about two CYC tailored shirts and an iPod touch.
She said at no point did Tey ask for the gifts from her and that she had given them to him on her own accord.
Tey put it to Ms Ko that he had paid her for those gifts, as well as for the dinner at Garibaldi, which had a bill dated 21 July 2010.
He said he had issued a cheque amounting to S$2,500 in July 2010 before she left for an overseas study stint.
This amount, he said, is slightly more than the value of the gifts mentioned in the first four charges.
But Ms Ko said no such cheque was given to her.
Tey then said he made out the cheque to Ms Ko but she didn't encash it.
So he paid her in cash, he said.
Lead prosecutor Mr Andre Jumabhoy raised doubts, pointing out that the cheque was dated early July 2010 while the dinner bill was dated 21 July.
He said Tey is purporting to pay for a dinner even before it had taken place. "It shows a remarkable ability on his part to establish not only future events but the price that such events entail," said Mr Jumabhoy.
The prosecutor also argued that Ms Ko's testimony that she did not receive the cheque caused "irreparable damage" to Tey's case.
Tey, a former district judge, faces allegations of obtaining gratification in the form of gifts and sex from Ms Ko between May and July 2010, in exchange for lifting her grades.
If convicted, he could be jailed up to five years and fined S$100,000.
- CNA/ck -
Damn stupid, he could write a cheque amount for the dinner before it actually happened. Must be a fellow time traveller.