The hidden player in NKF
NKF manager who 'ran the purchasing show' runs from the media
Wednesday • April 19, 2006
Ansley Ng
ansley@newstoday.com.sg
SHE was not a key official in the National Kidney Foundation (NKF).
So when Ragini d/o Vijayalingam stood up in Courtroom 26 to answer to charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act, members of the public and the media were curious about this hitherto unfamiliar player.
Yesterday, Ragini, an assistant manager in NKF's purchasing department, was charged on 11 counts of accepting bribes from Peng Che Chun, a general manager and director of Hygeian Medical Supplies, which equips the NKF with items such as sterile gauze swabs and sodium bicarbonate powder.
In exchange for nearly $10,000 in cash, Ragini, 43, 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 about $470 to help Peng secure future deals with the NKF.
According to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, her husband had played the middleman. It was not clear if her husband or Peng has been charged.
A former NKF employee told Today he was not surprised by the revelations. He described her as someone who "ran the whole purchasing show" for the charity in a small department of no more than three people.
When the probe into the NKF's affairs started last year, Ragini was "one of the first to be grilled by investigators", said the former staff.
"All her files were seized and she was questioned."
Unlike the other players from the old NKF who were charged yesterday, Ragini, who is on no-pay leave, was not used to media attention.
Realising that a horde of photographers and cameramen were waiting outside the Subordinate Courts for her, Ragini hid behind an unidentified male companion as she walked out.
Covering her face with her handbag and a light blue scarf, she sprinted away from the media — and her companion — and got into a white Mercedes Benz.
"Now you are like a movie star," said her companion.
Wednesday • April 19, 2006
Ansley Ng
ansley@newstoday.com.sg
SHE was not a key official in the National Kidney Foundation (NKF).
So when Ragini d/o Vijayalingam stood up in Courtroom 26 to answer to charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act, members of the public and the media were curious about this hitherto unfamiliar player.
Yesterday, Ragini, an assistant manager in NKF's purchasing department, was charged on 11 counts of accepting bribes from Peng Che Chun, a general manager and director of Hygeian Medical Supplies, which equips the NKF with items such as sterile gauze swabs and sodium bicarbonate powder.
In exchange for nearly $10,000 in cash, Ragini, 43, 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 about $470 to help Peng secure future deals with the NKF.
According to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, her husband had played the middleman. It was not clear if her husband or Peng has been charged.
A former NKF employee told Today he was not surprised by the revelations. He described her as someone who "ran the whole purchasing show" for the charity in a small department of no more than three people.
When the probe into the NKF's affairs started last year, Ragini was "one of the first to be grilled by investigators", said the former staff.
"All her files were seized and she was questioned."
Unlike the other players from the old NKF who were charged yesterday, Ragini, who is on no-pay leave, was not used to media attention.
Realising that a horde of photographers and cameramen were waiting outside the Subordinate Courts for her, Ragini hid behind an unidentified male companion as she walked out.
Covering her face with her handbag and a light blue scarf, she sprinted away from the media — and her companion — and got into a white Mercedes Benz.
"Now you are like a movie star," said her companion.
posted by khimsiu at 10:28 PM
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