Four more former NKF directors now part of suit
Tor Ching Li
chingli@newstoday.com.sg
THE High Court yesterday approved an application for the remaining four former directors on the old National Kidney Foundation (NKF) board to be included in the civil suit filed by the new NKF.
This means that every member of the former board will be involved in the charity's attempt to recover some $12 million in salaries, benefits and losses incurred following failed contracts for IT-related services. The suit is slated for hearing next January.
Currently, only three of the seven former directors are being sued by the new NKF: Former chairman Richard Yong, former treasurer Loo Say San and board member Matilda Chua.
KhattarWong lawyer Chia Boon Teck, acting for Mr Yong and Mr Loo, applied for the remaining board members to be named as "third parties" at a pre-trial conference yesterday.
These comprise certified public accountant Alwyn Lim; Associate Professor Lawrence Chia; lawyer Kweh Soon Han; and Chow Kok Fong, managing director of Equitas Corporation. They now have two weeks to file a defence, and will appear for a third-party hearing in court on July 3.
Should the High Court find Mr Yong and Mr Loo guilty of breaching their duties as directors, the rest of the former board can now be held liable as well, and end up paying costs and damages to the new NKF — even though they were not sued by the new board.
The other two persons named in the civil suit are former chief executive T T Durai and his friend Pharis Aboobacker. The latter, who is located in Chennai, India, has yet to come to Singapore despite having been served a writ of summons and statement of claims.
If he fails to return, a default judgement can be made against him.
The High Court has also expressed interest in examining the 17 boxes of documents — a total of 55,000 pages' worth within — sent to Mr Chia's KhattarWong office by Mr Aboobacker regarding the dealings between the old NKF and two of Mr Aboobacker's companies: Forte Systems and Protonweb Solutions.
These two companies held NKF contracts, worth $7.5 million in all, for call-centre services and software development that failed to meet specifications.
Mr Chia expects this to be arranged with the prosecution within the week.
"The court has agreed to give us more time to examine the documents," said Mr Chia. The pre-trial conference for all parties to decide on the next course of action will be held on July 24. Mr Durai's pre-trial conference for his criminal case will be heard on the same day.
Mr Durai and the entire NKF board resigned last July after a public outcry over the details of his salary, which were revealed in the course of a defamation suit he brought against a local newspaper.
Senior Counsel K Shanmugan represents the NKF, while Senior Counsel Chelva Rajah will act for Mr Durai.
chingli@newstoday.com.sg
THE High Court yesterday approved an application for the remaining four former directors on the old National Kidney Foundation (NKF) board to be included in the civil suit filed by the new NKF.
This means that every member of the former board will be involved in the charity's attempt to recover some $12 million in salaries, benefits and losses incurred following failed contracts for IT-related services. The suit is slated for hearing next January.
Currently, only three of the seven former directors are being sued by the new NKF: Former chairman Richard Yong, former treasurer Loo Say San and board member Matilda Chua.
KhattarWong lawyer Chia Boon Teck, acting for Mr Yong and Mr Loo, applied for the remaining board members to be named as "third parties" at a pre-trial conference yesterday.
These comprise certified public accountant Alwyn Lim; Associate Professor Lawrence Chia; lawyer Kweh Soon Han; and Chow Kok Fong, managing director of Equitas Corporation. They now have two weeks to file a defence, and will appear for a third-party hearing in court on July 3.
Should the High Court find Mr Yong and Mr Loo guilty of breaching their duties as directors, the rest of the former board can now be held liable as well, and end up paying costs and damages to the new NKF — even though they were not sued by the new board.
The other two persons named in the civil suit are former chief executive T T Durai and his friend Pharis Aboobacker. The latter, who is located in Chennai, India, has yet to come to Singapore despite having been served a writ of summons and statement of claims.
If he fails to return, a default judgement can be made against him.
The High Court has also expressed interest in examining the 17 boxes of documents — a total of 55,000 pages' worth within — sent to Mr Chia's KhattarWong office by Mr Aboobacker regarding the dealings between the old NKF and two of Mr Aboobacker's companies: Forte Systems and Protonweb Solutions.
These two companies held NKF contracts, worth $7.5 million in all, for call-centre services and software development that failed to meet specifications.
Mr Chia expects this to be arranged with the prosecution within the week.
"The court has agreed to give us more time to examine the documents," said Mr Chia. The pre-trial conference for all parties to decide on the next course of action will be held on July 24. Mr Durai's pre-trial conference for his criminal case will be heard on the same day.
Mr Durai and the entire NKF board resigned last July after a public outcry over the details of his salary, which were revealed in the course of a defamation suit he brought against a local newspaper.
Senior Counsel K Shanmugan represents the NKF, while Senior Counsel Chelva Rajah will act for Mr Durai.
posted by khimsiu at 9:48 PM
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