WHEN his son was charged with housebreaking, businessman Pakirisamy Rajoo posted $50,000 bail for him.

He later went to Malaysia with his son, Ganesh Pakirisamy, and then helped him to sell his house.

When Ganesh went missing, MrPakirisamy feigned ignorance and even tried to blame his son's lawyer.

But a district judge did not believe him, noting that he must have known that his son had plans to skip town.

Giving Mr Pakirisamy a dressing-down for his 'devious and reprehensible' behaviour, District Judge Bala Reddy ordered the whole bail amount to be forfeited.

Describing him as being no 'babe in the woods', the judge noted that he could be in cahoots with Ganesh and it was up to the prosecution to look into this.

During the show-cause hearing to decide if the bail would be forfeited, MrPakirisamy claimed that on 22Feb last year, his son's lawyer had sought permission for Ganesh to go to Malaysia to attend to some matrimonial property matters, without consulting him.

Ganesh, whose flight from Singapore was revealed at a pre-trial conference on 14Mar last year, had been charged with housebreaking, theft, disposing of stolen property and forgery.

While Mr Pakirisamy denied knowing of his son's application, he admitted going to Malaysia with his son on 1Mar last year and returning together two hours later.

On the same day, Ganesh gave his father power of attorney to sell his house, a development that Judge Bala found perplexing as he had to be in Singapore for his trial.

When questioned by the judge, Mr Pakirisamy said he was not sure if he was present when the power of attorney was made.

He said that after returning to Singapore that morning, he did not see his son till that night as he was in his office in Excelsior Shopping Centre.

The law firm where the power of attorney was drawn up was in nearby Peninsula Plaza, the judge noted, but Mr Pakirisamy said he was not sure if he had gone there that day.

Mr Pakirisamy claimed his son had to sell the house urgently as he had been given three months to do so after his divorce in 2006.

But the judge felt this was yet another telling piece of evidence which showed that it was no coincidence that Ganesh had executed the power of attorney in favour of his father on the day he absconded.

Mr Pakirisamy claimed that he kept his son's passport after they returned from Malaysia, only to find Ganesh and the passport missing the next day.

He claimed he searched for his son in Singapore, Johor Baru, Malacca and Kuala Lumpur, but to no avail.

However, he made no attempt to inform the court about this until the pre-trial conference on 14 Mar last year.

Judge Bala noted there was virtual silence from MrPakirisamy up till the pre-trial conference on that day.

He was thus compelled to find that Ganesh, who jumped bail after giving his father power of attorney, must have discussed his intentions with MrPakirisamy.

In his judgment, released last month, the judge wrote that MrPakirisamy's denial about knowing that Ganesh was granted permission to leave Singapore was a 'bold-faced lie' as he had travelled with Ganesh to Malaysia.

The judge wrote: 'The bailor has tried all devious means to show that he is blameless.'

In doing so, he said, the man even unabashedly tried to cast a shadow on the integrity of Ganesh's lawyer.

'As the evidence shows, the bailor's assertions against (the lawyer) were baseless and the bailor's conduct in this respect is most reprehensible.'

Mr Pakirisamy has appealed against the forfeiture of the bail sum.

WHAT THE JUDGE SAYS

The bailor's assertions against (the lawyer) were baseless and the bailor's conduct in this respect is most reprehensible.

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