Former NKF manager first to be convicted

Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Ansley Ng ansley@newstoday.com.sg

A FORMER manager at the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) is the first person to be convicted for her role in the charity's high-profile saga.

Ragini Vijayalingam, an ex-assistant manager in the foundation's purchasing department, was fined $24,000 yesterday for receiving bribes to help a medical supplies firm win deals with the NKF. She was also ordered to pay a penalty of $10,174 - the amount she received in cash, seafood meals, perfume and massage sessions.

The 43-year-old pleaded guilty to three counts of accepting bribes from Peng Che Chun, a general manager and director of Hygeian Medical Supplies, which equips the NKF with medical items. The court took eight other charges into consideration in passing sentence.

For over two years - in exchange for nearly $10,000 in cash - Ragini, 43, would help Peng win contracts through her husband, Vasu Velautham, a Hygeian storeman who acted as the middleman.

According to the court papers, Peng enlisted Vasu's help in late 2002 to secure future deals with NKF in return for commission.

In one of the deals, Ragini invited tenders to supply the NKF with 900,000 packets of sterile gauze swabs in January 2003. Peng submitted a quote of $80,100 and asked Vasu to check with his wife if the price was good enough.

When Ragini told him to lower the price further, Peng later reduced his quote to $76,000 and won the bid.

The couple received $1,200 for their help in securing this deal.

Asking the court not to jail his client, Ragini's lawyer Surian Sidambaram said Vasu was saddled with gambling debts and borrowed money from Peng, who had "ulterior motives" for lending him money. Also, Hygeian's low quotes actually helped "reduce overheads" for the NKF, he said.

Subversion of tenders is a serious offence, said District Judge Toh Yung Cheong, and an appropriate sentence was needed to "reflect the openness and transparency" of the tender system of any modern society.

Former chief executive officer T T Durai, along with former board members Matilda Chua, Richard Yong and Loo Say San, were also charged for their roles in the NKF scandal. Chua, Yong and Loo will return to court next Tuesday for their criminal pre-trial hearing.

NKF's ex-assistant purchasing manager pleads guilty to graft

By Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia Posted: 21 August 2006 1902 hrs

The National Kidney Foundation's former assistant manager in the purchasing department has pleaded guilty to charges of corruption.

Ragini Vijayalingam had received $10,174 worth of kickbacks, mainly from Hygeian Medical Supplies, the company her husband, Vasu Velautham, was working for.

She had provided Vasu's boss with information on the range of prices to bid if he wanted to secure an NKF contract for medical supplies.

As a result, the company successfully clinched three contracts.

The company then gave the couple various presents, including cash, which they shared.

Vijayalingam was fined $24,000, over and above the $10,000 penalty she has to pay.

In her mitigation plea, Vijayalingam said her husband was a problem gambler.

He had incurred a large debt and he borrowed money from his manager to cover his losses.

His manager put pressure on him to get Vijayalingam's help in securing the tender. - CNA/ir

115,000 pages of proof to show link to NKF

Weekend, August 12, 2006
— Lee U-Wen

A SECOND batch of documents has just arrived at lawyer Chia Boon Teck's office in KhattarWong, which he believes will be crucial in building his case against the new National Kidney Foundation (NKF) board.

Mr Chia is acting for his clients, former NKF directors Richard Yong, 65, and Loo Say San, 58. They are two of the five people whom the new board is suing in an attempt to recover an estimated sum of $12 million.

The 24 cartons — totalling some 115,000 pages — came from Mr Pharis Aboobacker in India, who is a personal friend of former NKF chief executive T T Durai and also implicated in this civil suit.

The documents, said Mr Chia, will help prove the legitimate "work done" by the two companies Mr Aboobacker owned, Forte Systems and Protonweb Solutions. These two firms had held contracts with the NKF worth some $7.5 million for call centre services and software development. Having received a first shipment of 17 cartons containing some 55,000 pages two months ago, Mr Chia said these latest documents are important as they contain the source codes for a software system that the charity wanted to install in 2001.

Part of Forte's $3.1 million contract was to release the full codes to the charity, which would allow the NKF to make future upgrades and amendments to the software.

"Without the source codes, they would have to run back to the service provider, who would charge an arm and a leg for every amendment. That's why they were so keen on Forte compared to the others," Mr Chia told Today.

NKF's contention, however, is that the software was eventually not delivered on time and Forte was said to have failed to meet contract specifications. The $3.1 million paid to them was finally written off.

There will be a pre-trial conference on Aug 29. Two days later, all parties including the plaintiff, defendants and third parties have to file and serve their lists of documents. The trial is slated to begin in January next year.

Why Durai was paid that package

By Jasmine Yin, TODAY Posted: 08 August 2006 1110 hrs

SINGAPORE: A former board member of the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) has explained the rationale behind the hefty pay package given to Mr T T Durai, the controversial chief executive who stepped down last year.

Several factors were considered before the board approved the package, said former NKF remuneration committee member Associate Professor Lawrence Chia, in court papers obtained by this newspaper.

These included the level of donations the NKF was able to secure, as well as Mr Durai's "extensive and concerted efforts" in educating the public on kidney donations - especially from the local Muslim community - and in setting up an "outstanding nationwide dialysis programme" that won the charity local and international recognition.

Prof Chia has been named - along with three other former directors - a third party in a lawsuit filed by the NKF against its former chairman Richard Yong and former treasurer Loo Say San. This means that, should Mr Yong and Mr Loo be found guilty of breaching their directors' duties, Prof Chia will also be held responsible.

The other three third parties are accountant Alwyn Lim, lawyer Kweh Soon Han and businessman Chow Kok Fong, all of whom filed their defence last week.

In his defence papers, Mr Lim, who headed the finance committee and was part of the audit committee, addressed the issue of Mr Durai flying first-class and buying air tickets overseas.

He said even though the charity only paid for business class travel, senior executives "could upgrade to first class at their own cost or by utilising or redeeming" their frequent-flyer points. He had referred a Colombo travel agent to Mr Durai only after the latter - citing "substantially cheaper" airline tickets purchased in Chennai, Colombo and Bangkok - asked him to help the NKF get better rates, said Mr Lim, who has business dealings in Colombo.

The four former directors also individually sought to counter allegations that they had slept on the job and given Mr Durai a free hand to control the board.

While the former chief executive led proceedings at meetings of the executive committee, the exco "retained overall supervision" by receiving regular briefings and reports from him and other salaried staff, said Mr Kweh.

Mr Lim also sought to shift some of the blame squarely back on the former NKF management over allegations made against him.

To the claim that he be held liable for disclosing misleading figures to the public - such as the fact that its fund-raising costs did not exceed 30 per cent - Mr Lim countered that he had made such statements "based on information provided by the NKF, which in turn was based on data and statistics complied by the NKF's accounts department, the NKF's audited financial statements, and the audited accounts in respect of each fund-raising event".

Mr Lim was also blamed for a botched $3.3-million deal between the charity and Forte Systems, owned by Mr Durai's friend, Mr Pharis Aboobacker.

Together with Mr Yong, Mr Lim sat on a committee that was to assess and acquire a new software system for the charity in 2001. Mr Lim said he and Mr Yong relied on the technical expertise of the third committee member, Mr Jayaraman Krishnan, the charity's head of department of technology and systems.

Forte's quotation was accepted in the end because it was the second lowest - at $3.1 million - and the company was prepared to allow the charity to "customise or modify" the software.

Lawyer Chia Boon Teck, who acts for Mr Yong and Mr Loo, said a Queen's Counsel has been engaged to assess the merits of the NKF's claims, as well as his clients' defences and action against the four third parties. - TODAY/ra

Four third party defendants downplay individual roles in NKF

By Valarie Tan, Channel NewsAsia Posted: 07 August 2006 2125 hrs

The blame game continues in the S$12 million National Kidney Foundation lawsuit at the High Court.

Four other former board members recently included as third party defendants have played down their roles in the old NKF.

Of the four third party defendants, Alwyn Lim is a central figure.

The former chairman of the old Finance Committee was alleged to have consistently reported that NKF's fundraising never exceeded 30 percent of the total cost, when in fact it did.

And that 52 cents of every dollar raised went to beneficiaries, when it was only 10 cents.

In his defence, Lim said these reports were made, based on information provided by the NKF and its Accounts Department.

He found no reason to question the financial statements since the accounts were audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers and other such accountants.

The other three third party defendants - former Assistant Honorary Treasurer, Associate Professor Lawrence Chia; lawyer Kweh Soon Han and Chow Kok Fong, also downplayed their roles in the administration of NKF affairs.

Chow said his role was limited even though he served as a director from August 2002 to July 2004.

Kweh said he was a non-executive member and did not handle the finances.

And despite serving as Assistant Honorary Treasurer for about a year (Aug 2002 to Jun 2003), he said he was just an unpaid volunteer.

As for Lawrence Chia, he said he was not involved in the preparation of accounts for fund-raising activities.

The four have been dragged in as third party defendants by former NKF directors Richard Yong and Loo Say San who are being sued by the new NKF.

Loo and Yong have two weeks to reply to the defendants. - CNA/ch