FINE him but don't jail him, the lawyer for retail magnate Tang Wee Sung pleaded with a court on Wednesday.

Senior Counsel Cavinder Bull said this in mitigation after Tang pleaded guilty to trying to buy a kidney and lying under oath that he was distantly related to the Indonesian donor. The second charge carries a mandatory jail term.

Senior Counsel Bull told the court that Tang - 'a law-abiding citizen for all his life' - was driven by desperation.

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