Is there no charity safe to give to these days?
Head of Ren Ci Hospital, Venerable Shi Ming Yi charged
in court
Posted: 15 July 2008 1108 hrs
Photos 1 of 1 
SINGAPORE: Head of Ren Ci Hospital, the Venerable Shi Ming
Yi has been charged with alleged forgery, conspiracy and misuse of
funds.
Venerable Ming Yi, who was also former Ren Ci Chairman, was slapped
with 10 charges 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 alleged 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.
Two of his associates Raymong Yeung and Phua Seow Hua were also
alleged to have gone into conspiracy with the Venerable and were
also charged in court Tuesday.
Separately, a volunteer from Ren Ci was charged with allegedly
possessing some 70 copies of obscene film.
Venerable Ming Yi, also known as Goh Kah Heng, is out on S$200, 000
bail.
The case will be heard in court on August 4.
Venerable Ming Yi has been on leave for five months before his
arrest on Monday night.
He had been under probe by the Commercial Affairs Department.
The Commercial Affairs Department was called in after auditors
engaged by the Health Ministry highlighted possible irregularities
in some of the charity's financial transactions.
The Ministry of Health had said that several transactions, which
involved several million dollars, could not be satisfactorily
explained.
Ren Ci and 11 other large Institutions of a Public Character were
subject to the Health Ministry's general review in July 2006.
Ren Ci is believed to be the third largest health charity in
Singapore after the National Kidney Foundation and 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
and The Singapore Regional Centre of the World Fellowship of
Buddhists, and the
Katho Temple.
He remains the religious leader of the Foo Hai Ch'an
Monastery.
