Law prof in sex-for-grades trial says he was "in love" with former student

Law prof in sex-for-grades trial says he was "in love" with former student

    By Claire Huang
    POSTED: 15 Apr 2013 3:04 PM
    UPDATED: 16 Apr 2013 12:02 AM
   
The law professor accused of corruption in the sex-for-grades trial said he loved his former student and that he never wanted to take advantage of her.

SINGAPORE: The law professor accused of corruption in a sex-for-grades trial said he loved his former student and that he never wanted to take advantage of her.

Tey Tsun Hang, 41, faces six allegations that he corruptly obtained gifts and sex from 23-year-old Darinne Ko, in return for lifting her grades between May and July 2010.

Taking the witness stand in his own defence on Monday, Tey recounted his relationship with Ms Ko, saying he was in love with her.

He added that she would address him as "dearest dinosaur" and gave him an iPod filled with songs they listened to together.

Describing Ms Ko as "charming", "vivacious" and "an intellect", Tey also told the court they would send each other poems - hers in English and his in Mandarin - as a declaration of their love for one another.

Tey also went through the list of gifts Ms Ko showered on him, which included among other things, a Montblanc pen, CYC tailored shirts and an iPod.

Tey also gave an explanation of his cheque book entries that were mentioned in court in January this year.

The court had heard then that Tey had paid Ms Ko for those gifts as well as for the dinner at Garibaldi's. The bill for that dinner was dated 21 July 2010.

Tey said he had issued a cheque for S$2,500 in July 2010 before Ms Ko left for an overseas study stint.

Back in January 2013, he said the amount is slightly more than the value of the gifts mentioned in the first four charges.

But in January this year, Ms Ko said no such cheque was given to her.

Tey said he made the cheque out to Ms Ko but she refused to accept it.

Tey said he paid her in cash after that.

At that time, lead prosecutor Mr Andre Jumabhoy pointed out that the cheque was dated early July 2010 while the dinner bill was dated 21 July.

So Mr Jumabhoy said Tey is purporting to pay for a dinner even before it had taken place.

But on Monday, Tey explained that Ms Ko had been arranging for the Garibaldi dinner weeks before the actual appointment as all nine attendees had different schedules. And because it was arranged weeks before, Tey said he had a rough idea of the cost of the dinner.

By then, Tey said he also found out from a friend, the cost of the Montblanc pen.

He said he added the costs of the dinner, pen and other gifts and wrote a cheque amounting to S$2,500 to Ms Ko for the items to reimburse her.

Tey said that prosecution's point about him being able to foretell the cost of a dinner in the future was a "hurtful supposition".

Later in the day, another key defence argument was brought up.

Tey told the court that under the National University of Singapore's robust marking system, a "collaborative effort" is needed to enter marks into the university’s examination system.

Tey explained that marks are entered into the examination system by an administrative manager and any changes to a student's grades require the approval of the Vice-Dean.

Tey said academic professors have no access to the system.

He also mentioned another of the university's precautions, which was the anonymous marking of papers.

The court heard that Ms Ko was ranked in the 82nd percentile for the subject "Equity and Trusts", and that that was before she and Tey started a relationship.

By the time she took the subject "Personal Property Law", which was also taught by Tey, Ms Ko's ranking went down to the "60 something percentile".

That was when they started going out.

When it came to her directed research paper much later, Ms Ko's percentile dropped even further - "to (the) 32nd or 33rd percentile".

Looking miserable, Tey added that their relationship right from the beginning was "pure, mutual and romantic", free of corrupt intent.

He said that he tried to explain this to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau's (CPIB) investigating officers but they refused to listen as they had "tunnel vision".

The move for Tey to testify follows the wrap of the prosecution's case on Monday morning.

The defence has to lay out its case now.

- CNA/ck/jc

- wong chee tat :)