SINGAPORE : Boon Suan Ban, formerly one of OCBC Securities' top remisiers, pleaded guilty on Friday to defamation charges pressed by Chief Justice Yong Pung How.
He was however acquitted on the basis that he was mentally unsound when he committed the offences.
In January this year, Boon wrote letters to various parties accusing the Chief Justice of obstructing justice by protecting a woman he claimed was the Chief Justice's girlfriend.
Boon claimed that she owed him over S$1.3 million in commission and used the money to buy a bungalow near where the Chief Justice was staying.
He also accused the Chief Justice of wielding enormous power over OCBC where the Chief Justice was once Chairman.
When the Chief Justice sued him for libel in February, Boon was brought to the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for psychiatric assessment that lasted three weeks.
Psychiatrists testified that Boon was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and was mentally unsound when he committed the crime.
Despite being acquited, Boon will be in remand at the IMH until psychiatrists testify that he is in the right state of mind to be released. - CNA