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SINGAPORE: Was Whang Sung Lin's role in the illegal kidney transplant deal involving retail magnate Tang Wee Sung merely that of a "conduit", or as prosecutors painted him to be, a "catalyst"?
The 45-year-old businessman's lawyer argued at his appeal Monday morning that it should be the former, because all Whang did was to pass organ dealer Wang Chin Seng's contact number to his ailing uncle-in-law - whom he knew was in desperate need of a kidney transplant.
"Neither the success of the arrangement, nor the possibility of such an arrangement eventuating, was dependent on the actions of Whang," the lawyer said in his written submissions. "The only fault that can be attributed to Whang is that his action increased the possibility of such an arrangement eventuating."
Whang was sentenced to eight months' jail on June 19 last year for instigating Singapore's first illicit organ transplant case.
But Mr Subhas said his client "should be accorded the lightest sentence as his role is the least significant of the various middlemen" in the case.
He told the High Court that Whang did not "actively suggest or encourage" the deal to go through. Instead, his actions were that of an "introducer".
Yet Whang got a heavier sentence than Wang, 44, the "main player" in the deal. Wang was sentenced to seven months' imprisonment.
Mr Tang, 56, had testified during Whang's trial that he had voluntarily called Wang because he needed help and was already actively looking for a kidney donor, the lawyer added in his submissions. Whang did not force Mr Tang to call Wang, he said.
Rebutting Mr Subhas' argument, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Chay Yuen Fatt said that when Whang suggested to Wang to charge Mr Tang S$300,000 in return for procuring a kidney donor, Whang had instigated the deal.
In suggesting Mr Tang be charged more because he was a rich man, DPP Chay said such goading coming from Whang, the relative of a prospective client "emboldened" Wang to arrange the illegal deal.
Both Wang and Whang were to have received S$100,000 each once the deal went through but authorities foiled it before it could take place.
Justice Tay Yong Kwang noted that Wang - who had arranged similar transplants previously, had admitted that he was in the business - was "going to charge something, in any event". He asked: "Was Whang goading Wang to 'do it, do it, do it', or was he telling Wang to 'charge more, charge more, charge more'?"
Mr Subhas also highlighted in his submissions that renal specialist Dr Lye Wai Choong was "intimately involved in the formulation of the arrangement between Wang and Tang" - and he asked why no charges had been pressed against Dr Lye.
- TODAY/sc
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