(news extracted from http://sg.news.yahoo.com/cna/20080716/tap-407-head-ren-ci-hospital-venerable-s-231650b.html
)
SINGAPORE: Former head of Ren Ci Hospital, Venerable
Shi Ming Yi, has been charged with forgery, conspiracy and misuse
of funds.
46—year—old Venerable Ming Yi, who was also the former Ren Ci
chairman, was slapped with 10 charges on Tuesday morning.
The monk faces four charges under the Penal Code involving two
counts of alleged criminal breach of trust. He also faces one count
of forgery for the purpose of cheating, and one count of abetment
for allegedly falsifying accounts.
He also faces six charges under the Charities Act for allegedly
providing false information over a decade.
Two of his associates, Raymond Yeung and Phua Seow Hua, were
also alleged to have gone into conspiracy with the venerable and
were also charged in court on Tuesday.
This is the second case in Singapore where a large charity and
its leaders have been charged with mismanaging funds. The first was
the National Kidney Foundation and its ex—CEO, TT Durai.
Separately, a volunteer from Ren Ci was charged with possessing
some 70 copies of obscene film.
Venerable Ming Yi, also known as Goh Kah Heng, is out on a
S$200,000 bail. His case will be heard in court on August 4.
The monk has been on leave for five months before his arrest on
Monday night. He had been under probe by the Commercial Affairs
Department (CAD).
The CAD was called in after auditors engaged by the Ministry of
Health (MOH) highlighted possible irregularities in some of the
charity’s financial transactions.
The MOH had said that several transactions, which involved
several million dollars, could not be satisfactorily explained.
The venerable is said to have given false information to the
Commissioner of Charities between 1998 and 2008. These included two
instances when he allegedly approved million—dollar investments for
the charity, but the funds included loans for himself.
The monk is also accused of using S$300,000 to offset an
outstanding loan by Mandala Buddhist Cultural Centre, of which he
is a partner, and another S$50,000 was allegedly lent to Yeung and
a helper at the monasteries.
He was also alleged to have forged minutes of a meeting by
asking a staff to write that it was Mandala, and not himself, that
owed Ren Ci over S$600,000.
The venerable’s lawyer, Andre Yap, said: "Our position would be
that everything that was done was for a legitimate cause. It is not
a case where a person has basically taken the money and used it to
buy a house or buy shares for himself...
"It’s a question of corporate governance; it’s a question of how
you treat certain things in the accounts and what should be
done.
"Some of the charges relate to matters which the previous board
of Ren Ci had discussed at board meetings and had even sanctioned.
So we don’t believe that there’s a criminal element to many of
these charges."
Ren Ci and 11 other large Institutions of a Public Character
were subject to the Health Ministry’s general review in July
2006.
The organisation is believed to be the third largest health
charity in Singapore after the National Kidney Foundation and the
SingHealth Endowment Fund.
The Commissioner of Charities has suspended Venerable Ming Yi
from his office as Chief Executive Officer of Ren Ci Hospital &
Medicare Centre with immediate effect.
He will also be suspended from his executive positions in five
other charities: Foo Hai Ch’an Monastery, Foo Hai Ch’an Buddhist
Cultural and Welfare Association, Singapore Buddhist Free Clinic,
The Singapore Regional Centre of the World Fellowship of Buddhists,
and the Katho Temple.
However, he remains the religious leader of the Foo Hai Ch’an
Monastery in Geylang East.
Despite the monk’s departure, Ren Ci’s current services and
day—to—day operations have been unaffected by the incident.
Member of Parliament, Dr Ong Seh Hong, has taken over as CEO,
while Mr Chua Thian Poh was appointed chairman of Ren Ci in
September 2007. Both men did not respond to Channel NewsAsia’s
queries on the case.
The Health Ministry said the new chairman has added new members
to Ren Ci’s board and has put in "a number of improvements in
accordance with the recommendations made by the auditor", and he
will "further strengthen the board in the wake of these
findings".
One devotee at the Foo Hai Ch’an Monastery said he hopes the
case will lay everything out in the open.
Benny Woo, a businessman, said: "It’s a sad case, but I still
feel that he probably has his reasons (for doing what he did).
Personally, it does not discourage or demoralise my faith. As a CEO
and as a person—in—charge, he has to face up to it and be liable,
even though he may not be directly involved."
The high—profile monk is also abbot to several temples in Hong
Kong and Malaysia.
— CNA/yb/so
