Singapore - A Singapore tycoon, who pleaded guilty to two counts of illegally attempting to purchasing a kidney from an Indonesian is too sick to survive in prison, said his attorney Thursday. Attorney Cavinder Bull said jailing Tang Wee Sung, executive director of the tony CT Tang Department store and owner of prime real estate, would be "cruel and unusual punishment," according to the Straits Times.
Tang, 51, pleaded guilty Wednesday for arranging to pay middlemen 300,000 Singapore dollars (211,678 US dollars), and 20,000 Singapore dollars to the Indonesian donor of a kidney.
Tang also admitted falsely declaring the donor, Sulaiman Damanik, 26, was his relative. The transplant did not go ahead.
The charges carry a three-year prison sentence, plus a fine for false declaration. Sentencing is scheduled for next week.
The retail magnate said he did it because he was desperately sick and had no recourse due the lack of preventative medicine to survive.
Sulaiman and another Indonesian were jailed and fined in July for their roles in the case.
Organ-trading is banned in Singapore to prevent the exploitation of what the health ministry calls "poor and socially disadvantaged donors who are unable to make informed choices."
Singapore Health Minister Khaw Boon Tan said earlier this week he would investigate villages that allegedly harvest kidneys for organ transplants in the Philippines.
He also called for a donor registry to monitor cases and protect the welfare of the donors and their families.
