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Mdm Tang
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The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) has closed the chapter on its problems involving former chief executive T.T. Durai and three former officials whom it sued for about $12 million.
Mr Durai has repaid in full the $4.05 million he owed the charity.
Chairman Gerard Ee told The Sunday Times that the NKF had also 'recovered what we can' from former chairman Richard Yong, former treasurer Loo Say San and former board member Matilda Chua. He declined to give details.
All four landed in hot water after Mr Durai sued Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) in 2005 over an article in The Straits Times which mentioned a gold-plated tap in his office toilet.
He withdrew his defamation suit after his $600,000 annual salary, first-class air travel and other details of his time in office were made public. The revelations led to public outrage and Mr Durai and the entire NKF board stepped down.
In 2007, the NKF sued Mr Durai, Mr Yong, Mr Loo and Ms Chua to recover about $12 million that had been 'improperly paid out or used by the former board and CEO'.
Its claims included about $2 million paid to Mr Durai in salaries and benefits, about $4 million in lost donations as a result of the scandal and about $550,000 in legal costs incurred when the NKF, under Mr Durai, sued SPH.
Mr Durai staved off an impending bankruptcy by agreeing to pay the NKF $4.05 million in instalments. Mr Yong, Mr Loo and Ms Chua were made bankrupt after failing to pay damages and legal costs of the civil suit. Mr Loo died in 2010.
According to the NKF's latest annual report, Mr Durai paid the final $250,000 of the $4.05 million he owed the charity in July last year.
He had made his first payment of $500,000 in July 2007, followed by 11 instalments of $300,000 each, before the final payment.
Mr Yong, Mr Loo and Ms Chua had their bankruptcies annulled as of December last year, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Law Sim Ann told Parliament in February.
The Official Assignee, a court official appointed as the trustee and receiver of a bankrupt's estate, sold the trio's assets and used the money to work out a debt settlement proposal. Their creditors had accepted this proposal, Ms Sim said in response to Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Lina Chiam's request for an update. The NKF and the Insolvency and Public Trustee's Office declined to reveal details of the trio's settlement.
Mr Ee, a veteran charity leader, took over the NKF's helm after Mr Durai and his entire board stepped down. He also hired auditors KPMG to examine the charity's affairs, which uncovered a host of questionable practices under Mr Durai's watch.
This culminated in the NKF's decision to sue Mr Durai and the three others. At the same time, Mr Durai, Mr Yong, Mr Loo and Ms Chua also faced criminal charges.
In 2008, Mr Durai was jailed for three months for using a fake invoice to cheat the NKF.
His last known employer was Property Facility Services, where he reportedly drew a $25,000 monthly salary heading a firm offering health-care and human resource services in the Middle East.
He was last seen in public at NKF founder Khoo Oon Teik's funeral last month.
The Sunday Times understands that he now works as a business consultant overseas. He could not be reached, and his family and friends were tight-lipped about his whereabouts.
To repay his debt, Mr Durai is said to have sold an Upper East Coast Road apartment worth about $700,000 and borrowed $500,000 from friends.
As for his former associates, Mr Loo died of a heart attack in 2010 at age 61. Lawyers said his estate would have had to be used to pay his creditors first, before his family or those named in his will could lay claim to it. Neither Mr Yong nor Ms Chua could be reached for comment.
In 2007, Mr Yong was jailed for one year and three months for conspiring with his wife, Madam On Shu Kio, to move nearly $4 million out of Singapore to avoid paying damages and legal costs to the NKF.
Madam On was jailed one year and 10 months in 2008 for money laundering to avoid paying the NKF. Both have since been released from jail.
Ms Chua was fined $20,000 in 2009 for falsifying the books of her call centre company, Global Net Relations, which she had started with Mr Durai.
Under Mr Ee's leadership, the NKF has transformed itself into a thrifty charity focused on improving its patients' lives.
It cut dialysis fees significantly and is helping 2,953 patients as of last month, compared with about 1,800 patients in July 2005 while Mr Durai was in charge.
Needy patients also get other forms of help, such as free food vouchers and subsidised transport to their dialysis sessions.
Mr Ee said: 'With the annulment of the bankruptcy orders, we can now place the matter behind us and concentrate on the future of NKF. We must not forget the good that these directors have done for NKF in the past. We acknowledge their contributions and will always credit them for their contributions.'
The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) has closed the chapter on its problems involving former chief executive T.T. Durai and three former officials whom it sued for about $12 million.
Mr Durai has repaid in full the $4.05 million he owed the charity.
Chairman Gerard Ee told The Sunday Times that the NKF had also 'recovered what we can' from former chairman Richard Yong, former treasurer Loo Say San and former board member Matilda Chua. He declined to give details.
All four landed in hot water after Mr Durai sued Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) in 2005 over an article in The Straits Times which mentioned a gold-plated tap in his office toilet.
He withdrew his defamation suit after his $600,000 annual salary, first-class air travel and other details of his time in office were made public. The revelations led to public outrage and Mr Durai and the entire NKF board stepped down.
In 2007, the NKF sued Mr Durai, Mr Yong, Mr Loo and Ms Chua to recover about $12 million that had been 'improperly paid out or used by the former board and CEO'.
Its claims included about $2 million paid to Mr Durai in salaries and benefits, about $4 million in lost donations as a result of the scandal and about $550,000 in legal costs incurred when the NKF, under Mr Durai, sued SPH.
Mr Durai staved off an impending bankruptcy by agreeing to pay the NKF $4.05 million in instalments. Mr Yong, Mr Loo and Ms Chua were made bankrupt after failing to pay damages and legal costs of the civil suit. Mr Loo died in 2010.
According to the NKF's latest annual report, Mr Durai paid the final $250,000 of the $4.05 million he owed the charity in July last year.
He had made his first payment of $500,000 in July 2007, followed by 11 instalments of $300,000 each, before the final payment.
Mr Yong, Mr Loo and Ms Chua had their bankruptcies annulled as of December last year, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Law Sim Ann told Parliament in February.
The Official Assignee, a court official appointed as the trustee and receiver of a bankrupt's estate, sold the trio's assets and used the money to work out a debt settlement proposal. Their creditors had accepted this proposal, Ms Sim said in response to Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Lina Chiam's request for an update. The NKF and the Insolvency and Public Trustee's Office declined to reveal details of the trio's settlement.
Mr Ee, a veteran charity leader, took over the NKF's helm after Mr Durai and his entire board stepped down. He also hired auditors KPMG to examine the charity's affairs, which uncovered a host of questionable practices under Mr Durai's watch.
This culminated in the NKF's decision to sue Mr Durai and the three others. At the same time, Mr Durai, Mr Yong, Mr Loo and Ms Chua also faced criminal charges.
In 2008, Mr Durai was jailed for three months for using a fake invoice to cheat the NKF.
His last known employer was Property Facility Services, where he reportedly drew a $25,000 monthly salary heading a firm offering health-care and human resource services in the Middle East.
He was last seen in public at NKF founder Khoo Oon Teik's funeral last month.
The Sunday Times understands that he now works as a business consultant overseas. He could not be reached, and his family and friends were tight-lipped about his whereabouts.
To repay his debt, Mr Durai is said to have sold an Upper East Coast Road apartment worth about $700,000 and borrowed $500,000 from friends.
As for his former associates, Mr Loo died of a heart attack in 2010 at age 61. Lawyers said his estate would have had to be used to pay his creditors first, before his family or those named in his will could lay claim to it. Neither Mr Yong nor Ms Chua could be reached for comment.
In 2007, Mr Yong was jailed for one year and three months for conspiring with his wife, Madam On Shu Kio, to move nearly $4 million out of Singapore to avoid paying damages and legal costs to the NKF.
Madam On was jailed one year and 10 months in 2008 for money laundering to avoid paying the NKF. Both have since been released from jail.
Ms Chua was fined $20,000 in 2009 for falsifying the books of her call centre company, Global Net Relations, which she had started with Mr Durai.
Under Mr Ee's leadership, the NKF has transformed itself into a thrifty charity focused on improving its patients' lives.
It cut dialysis fees significantly and is helping 2,953 patients as of last month, compared with about 1,800 patients in July 2005 while Mr Durai was in charge.
Needy patients also get other forms of help, such as free food vouchers and subsidised transport to their dialysis sessions.
Mr Ee said: 'With the annulment of the bankruptcy orders, we can now place the matter behind us and concentrate on the future of NKF. We must not forget the good that these directors have done for NKF in the past. We acknowledge their contributions and will always credit them for their contributions.'