Durai in court – Episode 2
Former NKF chief accused of falsifying claims, corruption
Wednesday • April 19, 2006
Ansley Ng
ansley@newstoday.com.sg
NINE months since his fall from grace after a botched defamation suit, former National Kidney Foundation (NKF) chief T T Durai was back in court — this time to face two charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The 57-year-old has been accused of submitting two false invoices involving a total of $25,000 to mislead the NKF into paying for services that were never delivered.
Almost 20 photographers — and dozens of curious bystanders — waited patiently for the cast of players whose previous courtroom appearances had invoked so much drama and sparked an outcry that eventually led to the overhaul of Singapore's largest charity.
Mindful of the scrutiny, Durai and his former colleagues arrived separately and barely exchanged a word. One by one the NKF's former chief, its ex-chairman, its erstwhile treasurer and the woman once known as Durai's lieutenant faced their charges. The surprise came in the form of a little-known NKF employee, Ragini d/o Vijayalingam, being charged with accepting bribes for doling out medical supply contracts.
But all eyes were on Durai.
It was alleged that between December 2003 and January 2004, he claimed $20,000 from the NKF "with intent to deceive" — using an invoice containing a false statement — to pay interior design consultancy firm DTC Pte Ltd for its services.
The firm was supposed to provide interior design consultancy to several dialysis centres in 2003. But the jobs were never carried out.
This irregularity had been mentioned earlier in the KPMG audit report on the charity, which also pointed out that DTC is partly-owned by Mr David Tan, formerly a member of the NKF's executive committee. The report had also said that even the NKF's building department knew nothing of the services provided by DTC.
In the second charge, Durai was accused of claiming $5,000 from the charity, using an invoice containing a "materially false statement".
The money was meant to pay advertising agency Decision One International for helping the NKF headhunt a female television executive. But according to court papers, that service was also never rendered.
At the Subordinate Courts yesterday morning, a stony-faced Durai made his first public appearance after months of being dogged by criticism and public outrage over the way he managed the charity.
But when he emerged two hours later after posting bail of $50,000, Durai appeared more relaxed and smiled to photographers before leaving in a black Honda Civic, driven by his son.
Durai faces up to five years in jail and/or a maximum fine of $100,000 for each charge if found guilty.
Yesterday, the woman touted to be Durai's lieutenant in the NKF before she resigned in 2000 was also slapped with two charges under the Penal Code.
Matilda Chua Li Hoon, the director of telemarketing firm Global Net Relations (GNR), was accused of falsifying her company's accounts to cover up discounts of $300,000 given to property developers Seah Holdings for the purchase of shares from GNR. Instead, the discounts were passed off as advisory fees and the repayment of a loan.
Durai was a founding director of GNR but gave up directorship in July 2004.
If convicted, Chua, 37, faces a maximum jail term of seven years for each charge and/or an unspecified fine.
Also hauled to court yesterday were the charity's former chairman, Richard Yong Kun Da, 65, and former honorary treasurer, Loo Say San, 58. Both were accused of breaching the Companies Act for failing to "use reasonable diligence" and causing the NKF to "excessively" pay Forte Systems Inc.
In September 2001, the NKF signed a $4.29-million contract with the Chennai-based firm to provide a new enterprise resource management system. The foundation continued to pay Forte Systems — owned by Durai's friend Pharis Aboobacker — even though the company was said to have failed to deliver some services.
If guilty, both Yong and Loo could be jailed up to one year or fined up to $5,000.
But investigations, which started in September last year, were not limited to the NKF's upper echelons.
Ragini, an assistant manager in the charity's purchasing department, was slapped with 11 charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Between late-2003 to July last year, Ragini, 43, was alleged to have accepted bribes from Peng Che Chun, general manager and director of Hygeian Medical Supplies.
In exchange for nearly $10,000 in cash, Ragini would help Peng secure contracts to supply the charity with medical supplies, court papers showed.
She also received free seafood meals, perfume and massage sessions worth $470 to help Peng secure future deals with the NKF.
Chua and Ragini were granted bail of $20,000 and will return to court next Tuesday, as will Yong and Loo.
Wednesday • April 19, 2006
Ansley Ng
ansley@newstoday.com.sg
NINE months since his fall from grace after a botched defamation suit, former National Kidney Foundation (NKF) chief T T Durai was back in court — this time to face two charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The 57-year-old has been accused of submitting two false invoices involving a total of $25,000 to mislead the NKF into paying for services that were never delivered.
Almost 20 photographers — and dozens of curious bystanders — waited patiently for the cast of players whose previous courtroom appearances had invoked so much drama and sparked an outcry that eventually led to the overhaul of Singapore's largest charity.
Mindful of the scrutiny, Durai and his former colleagues arrived separately and barely exchanged a word. One by one the NKF's former chief, its ex-chairman, its erstwhile treasurer and the woman once known as Durai's lieutenant faced their charges. The surprise came in the form of a little-known NKF employee, Ragini d/o Vijayalingam, being charged with accepting bribes for doling out medical supply contracts.
But all eyes were on Durai.
It was alleged that between December 2003 and January 2004, he claimed $20,000 from the NKF "with intent to deceive" — using an invoice containing a false statement — to pay interior design consultancy firm DTC Pte Ltd for its services.
The firm was supposed to provide interior design consultancy to several dialysis centres in 2003. But the jobs were never carried out.
This irregularity had been mentioned earlier in the KPMG audit report on the charity, which also pointed out that DTC is partly-owned by Mr David Tan, formerly a member of the NKF's executive committee. The report had also said that even the NKF's building department knew nothing of the services provided by DTC.
In the second charge, Durai was accused of claiming $5,000 from the charity, using an invoice containing a "materially false statement".
The money was meant to pay advertising agency Decision One International for helping the NKF headhunt a female television executive. But according to court papers, that service was also never rendered.
At the Subordinate Courts yesterday morning, a stony-faced Durai made his first public appearance after months of being dogged by criticism and public outrage over the way he managed the charity.
But when he emerged two hours later after posting bail of $50,000, Durai appeared more relaxed and smiled to photographers before leaving in a black Honda Civic, driven by his son.
Durai faces up to five years in jail and/or a maximum fine of $100,000 for each charge if found guilty.
Yesterday, the woman touted to be Durai's lieutenant in the NKF before she resigned in 2000 was also slapped with two charges under the Penal Code.
Matilda Chua Li Hoon, the director of telemarketing firm Global Net Relations (GNR), was accused of falsifying her company's accounts to cover up discounts of $300,000 given to property developers Seah Holdings for the purchase of shares from GNR. Instead, the discounts were passed off as advisory fees and the repayment of a loan.
Durai was a founding director of GNR but gave up directorship in July 2004.
If convicted, Chua, 37, faces a maximum jail term of seven years for each charge and/or an unspecified fine.
Also hauled to court yesterday were the charity's former chairman, Richard Yong Kun Da, 65, and former honorary treasurer, Loo Say San, 58. Both were accused of breaching the Companies Act for failing to "use reasonable diligence" and causing the NKF to "excessively" pay Forte Systems Inc.
In September 2001, the NKF signed a $4.29-million contract with the Chennai-based firm to provide a new enterprise resource management system. The foundation continued to pay Forte Systems — owned by Durai's friend Pharis Aboobacker — even though the company was said to have failed to deliver some services.
If guilty, both Yong and Loo could be jailed up to one year or fined up to $5,000.
But investigations, which started in September last year, were not limited to the NKF's upper echelons.
Ragini, an assistant manager in the charity's purchasing department, was slapped with 11 charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Between late-2003 to July last year, Ragini, 43, was alleged to have accepted bribes from Peng Che Chun, general manager and director of Hygeian Medical Supplies.
In exchange for nearly $10,000 in cash, Ragini would help Peng secure contracts to supply the charity with medical supplies, court papers showed.
She also received free seafood meals, perfume and massage sessions worth $470 to help Peng secure future deals with the NKF.
Chua and Ragini were granted bail of $20,000 and will return to court next Tuesday, as will Yong and Loo.
posted by khimsiu at 10:35 AM
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