National Kidney Foundation Singapore scandal

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The National Kidney Foundation Singapore scandal , also known as the NKF Scandal or NKF Controversy , was a scandal in Singapore in July 2005 that involved the National Kidney Foundation Singapore (NKF) and a failed defamation process against Susan Long and Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) has been triggered. This sparked significant controversy that led to massive criticism and a large drop in donors to the charity. This in turn resulted in the resignation of CEO TT Durai and his board of directors.

Allegations related to the scandal included false explanations about how long the NKF's reserves would last, the number of patients, the installation of a gold tap in Durai's private offices, his salary, the use of company cars and first-class air travel . Former NKF Patroness Tan Choo Leng, wife of Minister Goh Chok Tong , sparked further outrage when she said TT Durai's salary was " S $ 600,000 a year is peanuts " (" S $ 600,000 is little change") .

The President of the National Council of Social Services, Gerard Ee, has now been appointed interim chairman of the organization. KPMG conducted a full independent audit of its finances, and a 442-page report dated December 19, 2005 revealed a large number of misconduct by former NKF board members and senior management. Durai was arrested on April 17, 2006 and charged by police under the Corruption Prevention Act. A $ 12 million civil lawsuit for the collection of funds by the new NKF board of directors against Durai and four other former board members began on January 8, 2007.

Another scandal arose in 2016 when the then CEO Edmund Kwok was fired for a "reportable crime" which was a "personal indiscretion" against an employee who was around 20 years old at the time.

First allegations

In August 1997 and December 1998, NKF volunteer Archie Ong and flight model instructor Piragasam Singaravelu were brought to court separately for defamation when they both said TT Durai had flown in first class. The former mentioned in April 1997 that the NKF had "wasted money" in a casual conversation with the former chairman of the NKF Finance Committee, Alwyn Lim, while the latter claimed that he had Mr. Durai in person in the Singapore Airlines first-class cabin seen. Both paid the NKF an undisclosed amount of damage and apologized. The news of the lawsuit affected Ong's cancer-stricken father, who eventually died in the hospital. Shortly after the 2005 scandal broke out, Ong told the press that he " now felt completely validated. I had over a hundred calls today wishing me well. "

In 1999, the NKF uncovered and re-initiated legal action against Tan Kiat Noi, who allegedly distributed an email from her company on April 5th claiming that " the NKF did not help the poor and needy, its employees paid unrealistically high bonuses "and kept the public from donating. She later published a public apology in the local newspapers The Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao and paid a total of S $ 50,000 in damages. 48 other employees who forwarded the same email were also sued by the organization, but the lawsuit was later dropped as they would have faced potentially extenuating financial circumstances. A few days after the 2007 civil lawsuit began, there were calls from the public to review the lawsuits against the three aforementioned whistleblowers .

In 2001, the National Social Service refused to renew the NKF's Institution of Public Character (IPC) status (allowing it to collect tax-free donations) because subsidy numbers were inflated, staff costs had increased by 30% and a "disproportionate" amount of money was spent on fundraising. Two years earlier, concerns were first raised by both the Department of Health and the NCSS. However, the former decided to intervene in January 2002 and restored the NKF's IPC status for a full three years.

NKF versus SPH

Allegations in articles

The Straits Times published an editorial on April 19, 2004, entitled " NKF: Controversially ahead of its time? ", Written by senior correspondent Susan Long. This article became the subject of the dispute and ultimately the lawsuit that led to the scandal. Durai and NKF questioned the first six lines of the article alleging that a retired contractor (who could and would not be named for fear of being sued) failed to complete the job when asked to " to install a glass shower, an expensive German toilet bowl and a gold-plated faucet worth S $ 1,000 in Durai's office ". It was claimed that the faucet was later replaced with a different material.

The NKF asked the newspaper's editor, Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), to apologize, withdraw and pay damages within 24 hours. Four days after the article was published, NKF and Durai have tried Long and SPH on defamation charges for $ 3.24 million in damages. They alleged that the six paragraphs of the article implied mishandling of donor funds, that the facilities were only being scaled back because of the contractor's protests, and that they avoided providing further details on the matter.

The negotiations

The trial began on July 11, 2005 with Long and SPH represented by Senior Counsel and MP Davinder Singh, while NKF and Durai were represented by Senior Counsel Michael Khoo. The cross-examination revealed that Durai received a monthly salary of $ 25,000 and a 10-month bonus in 2002 and a 12-month bonus in 2003 and 2004 for a total of $ 1.8 million over three years. He had access to a fleet of eight chauffeured vehicles, and the NKF paid the taxes and maintenance costs for his personal Mercedes-Benz.

The case was dropped by Durai at 5 p.m. on day two of the trial.

consequences

The Ministry of Health asked the NKF to pay compensation.

Public criticism and controversy

At the center of the scandal was the revelation of Durai's S $ 600,000 salary, which caused widespread public outrage, anger and disappointment. Around 3,800 regular donors canceled their contributions the day after the trial, and the NKF headquarters was ravaged with graffiti.

Tan Choo Leng's Notes

When asked about Durai's salary, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong's wife and NKF Patron Tan Choo Leng defended Durai, commenting that "for a person running a large million dollar organization with a few hundred million reserves, S $ 600,000 each Year's change, "much to the indignation of Singaporeans. The statement was taken as an insult by many who earn much less or even fight for survival.

Blogs and online message boards were quickly flooded with angry comments, and a second online petition asking Tan Choo Leng to apologize was launched. Jokes were later spread on the subject, for example the local satirical website TalkingCock.com published a piece parodying a bill with a peanut for the equivalent of S $ 600,000 (alluding to the phrase " S $ 600,000 are peanuts" ).

On July 16, 2005, SM Goh said that Ms. Goh regretted the statement. He also said he showed her several emails and letters he received following the comment. Despite an earlier announcement to remain on the board, Ms. Goh has also resigned as patron of the NKF, despite SM Goh claiming it was a separate matter.

Interim board

On July 14, 2005, TT Durai and the NKF board resigned en masse. Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan appointed Gerard Ee as interim chairman and CEO .

Independent investigation

In July 2005, KPMG was hired by the new NKF board to investigate past practices. The auditors published their report in December 2005, including the following results:

  • The Board of Directors delegated its powers to senior management, and senior management in turn delegated its powers to Durai.
  • In 2003, only ten cents of every dollar was used on dialysis bills. In its 2004 annual report, the NKF claimed that 52 cents of every dollar went to its beneficiaries.
  • NKF awarded $ 3 million to Forte Systems and $ 4 million to Protonweb, operated by Durai's close friend Pharis Aboobacker. Neither project completed successfully, but no action was taken against the companies. According to KPMG, the terms of the contract were "unusual" and the ExCo's disregard for the lack of service was "exceptional".

Arrests and subsequent lawsuits

Durai was arrested on April 17, 2006. He was released on bail but was later tried against other members of the National Kidney Foundation's old board of directors. He also agreed to repay $ 4 million to the new NKF and was sentenced to three months in prison for misleading the NKF by creating a $ 20,000 bill.

Former chairman Richard Yong , former director Mathilda Chua and former treasurer Loo Say San were declared bankrupt on May 16, 2007. After selling personal property worth 7.5 million dollars, Yong Singapore left in the early morning of May 17 without permission, but was arrested on 4 July 2007 in Hong Kong and on 3 August 2007 to Singapore delivered , where he was charged the next day on charges the NKF made on him and his escape from Singapore hours before he was declared bankrupt. Yong said that he went to sort out some personal matters.

He was sentenced to 15 months in prison on three charges. Five different allegations were considered in the conviction. His sentence begins on the day he was returned to Singapore. Yong appealed, lost, and served his sentence. However, he was allowed to spend five months of his detention under house arrest with an electronic ankle cuff .

Long-term consequences

The scandal has raised questions about the level of transparency in other Singapore institutions. Opposition politicians, especially Chee Soon Juan , have stated that the problems at NKF likely would not have been exposed if TT Durai had not sued the Straits Times . Four people affiliated with the Singapore Democratic Party held a silent demonstration outside Central Provident Fund (CPF) headquarters in July 2005 , wearing T-shirts that said, " GIC HDB NKF CPF Transparency Now, " demanding from the Government Investment Corporation (GIC) , the Housing Development Board (HDB) and the CPF more transparency. The protesters were arrested but later released without charge, with their own counterclaim for illegal detention , which was dismissed for a fee.

On April 21, 2006, Chee Soon Juan and 12 other defendants were sued for defamation for questioning the government's handling of the NKF scandal in the Singapore Democratic Party's newsletter, The New Democrat .

"New" NKF and "old" NKF

The new board's civil case against the old board - former CEO TT Durai, chairman Richard Yong, treasurer Loo Say San, board member Maltilda Chua and business partner - opened on January 8, 2007. For alleged mismanagement, breach of duty as well as damage and losses to the company, S $ 12 million in damages were requested. Durai has been charged with running the charity to his advantage, destroying documents and the like, with the new committee claiming that NKF as the charity and Durai as CEO should be subjected to a higher and more stringent standard of due diligence. On the third day, Durai accepted all liabilities and claims against him. The only public statement from Rajah - Durai's attorney - was to confirm that his client had left the matter.

Later that day at around 5:00 p.m. Singapore time, NKF attorney Shanmugam confirmed to reporters that Durai had admitted that the amount of damages to be paid to the NKF had yet to be settled. However, the other defendants' decision to proceed will affect other equally liable directors and third parties (Alwyn Lim, Lawrence Chia, Kweh Soon Han and Chow Kok Fong). The outcome of Durai's admission will make the process shorter, rather than an eight-week trial as expected.

New scandal in 2016

There was another scandal in 2016 when the then CEO Edmund Kwok was fired in November 2016. This was preceded by a complaint by a male employee, around 20 years old, about a "personal indiscretion" against Kwok on November 7, 2016. After a disciplinary hearing in which Kwok admitted the incident, he was released on November 14th.

The police started their investigation on November 15th.

Eunice Tay, former CEO of NKF, became interim CEO.

The police investigation into Edmund Kwok was closed shortly afterwards and a "stern warning" was issued against Kwok for his behavior in consultation with the attorney general. It was therefore a "reportable crime" against the then about 20 year old employee. Kwok declined to comment on the incident.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Former NKF chief Edmund Kwok gets stern warning from police for 'personal indiscretion'. Retrieved September 9, 2019 .
  2. ^ " NKF acts against e-defamation ", Samantha Santa Maria, The New Paper , May 1999 (English)
  3. ^ " NKF: Controversially ahead of its time? ", Susan Long, The Straits Times , April 19, 2004 (English)
  4. ↑ " Action dropped, don't do it ", Ng Wan Ching, The New Paper , May 22, 1999 (English)
  5. ^ " Pay back damages in 'flew first class' suits ", Lau Guan Kim, The Straits Times Forum, January 13, 2007 (English)
  6. ↑ Channelnewsasia.com. August 5, 2007, archived from the original on August 5, 2007 ; accessed on September 9, 2019 .
  7. ↑ " Home is home but this office is for charity ", Low Ching Ling, The New Paper , December 26, 2005 (English)
  8. ↑ AsiaOne. January 14, 2007, archived from the original on January 14, 2007 ; accessed on September 9, 2019 .
  9. ↑ National Kidney Foundation sacks CEO Edmund Kwok . Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  10. ↑ TalkingCock. March 17, 2006, archived from the original on March 17, 2006 ; accessed on September 9, 2019 .
  11. ↑ Channelnewsasia.com. March 31, 2006, archived from the original on March 31, 2006 ; accessed on September 9, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Ho Lian Yi: Yong crumbled in court under cross-examination . In: The New Paper . June 4, 2007. Archived from the original on December 23, 2007. Retrieved June 10, 2007. (English)
  13. ^ How did Richard Yong slip through the net? . Channel NewsAsia . Archived from the original on June 10, 2007. Retrieved June 10, 2007. (English)
  14. ↑ Channelnewsasia.com. January 10, 2007, archived from the original on January 10, 2007 ; accessed on September 9, 2019 .
  15. ↑ " Durai concedes " Bertha Henson, The Straits Times , January 11, 2007 (English)
  16. ↑ a b hermesauto: NKF CEO Edmund Kwok sacked over personal indiscretion involving male employee, police report filed: NKF. November 16, 2016, accessed September 9, 2019 .
  17. ^ Trouble at the top again for NKF, 11 years after damaging scandal. Retrieved September 9, 2019 .