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SINGAPORE: Former National Kidney Foundation (NKF) chairman Richard Yong, 66, has been sentenced to 15 months' jail.
The sentence will be backdated to 4 August 2007, which was the date he was slapped with ten charges for various alleged offences.
Yong had pleaded guilty to only three of those charges – one under the Penal Code, another two under the Bankruptcy Act – for failing to disclose three POSB accounts, the transfer of his American Club membership to his wife, and for fraudulently transferring property worth over S$3 million to his wife.
In passing the sentence, the court considered five other charges, while two charges were dropped.
District Judge Liew Thiam Leng said Yong had made an illegal flight from Singapore to Malaysia, and had undermined the bankruptcy law in Singapore by his action.
By fraudulently transferring property to prevent it from being taken into execution of the court judgement, the judge said Yong had not taken any steps to make good his public obligations.
The judge added that "the sentence should reflect the gravity of offences to deter other like-minded" people.
Yong's lawyer Jeffrey Beh said Yong was surprised with the sentence as he had expected to get less than six months' jail. Mr Beh said he would discuss with Yong whether he plans to appeal.
After the sentencing in court, Yong spent a few minutes talking to Mr Beh, asking his lawyer to thank his well-wishers.
Mr Beh said: "Richard has actually asked me to thank all his well-wishers. There've been many well-wishes from old friends to acquaintances. It is part of his effort that has built up NKF. There's still a lot of charity in his heart, you'd be surprised. His passion was NKF and still is, and he hopes that he will still be able to give some of his time, if given an opportunity, to charity."
His client had been ordered to cough up nearly S$1 million in legal costs and damages to NKF. When he failed to do so, Yong was declared a bankrupt in May.
But Yong sold several properties in Singapore and even transferred money to his wife's bank account – believed to amount to several million dollars.
Yong did not reveal the proceeds of the sales or any of the money he had to authorities as required of bankrupts under the law.
And on 17 May, Yong left Singapore for Malaysia without official permission and eventually ended up in Hong Kong.
He was nabbed in Hong Kong on 4 July and was finally brought back to Singapore a month later.
According to his lawyer, Yong was depressed when he left Singapore and had sought treatment in Hong Kong.
Some lawyers thought the sentence of 15 months was rather harsh as they were expecting a jail term of three to six months.
But another group of lawyers said it was a fair sentence given the circumstances and facts surrounding the case.
In the event Yong decides not to appeal the sentence, all is not lost for him as he may still get his jail term reduced by a third for good behaviour.
He could also be let out on a work release programme to work in the day and return to the prison at night.
Another programme would be house imprisonment or tagging, which means his movements will be monitored at home, and he has to abide by certain rules and regulations laid out by the authorities.
- CNA/so
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