More about the peanut men

May 18, 2007
AsiaOne

Former National Kidney Foundation (NKF) board members Richard Yong and Loo Say San may be in for more trouble - for fraudulently disposing off property, a charge that carries a jail term of up to two years and a fine.

Media reports today said they have spent the last few months selling off their assets amounting to some $8 million.

This new revelation comes a day after Yong, the former NKF chairman and Loo, ex-treasurer, were declared bankrupt after failing to meet repeated demands by the charity's lawyers to pay certain legal fees and damages arising from the long-running civil suit which was brought against them by the new NKF. They were also fined $5,000 each on Wednesday for breaching their duties while serving on the old NKF board.



High Court documents show that in the last three months, Yong had sold off some $8 million property, while Loo had sold two vehicles and shares and lodged a caveat on his home.

The moves are seen by the new NKF as a bid to avoid paying for the millions of dollars in damages that they are liable for, after they admitted to wrongdoing in the civil suit in February.

Under the Bankruptcy Act, it is an offence for a bankrupt to give away or transfer his assets for a period of five years prior to the date of the bankruptcy order against him.

It is also an offence for a person to conceal or remove assets after, or within a two-month period prior to a judgment being obtained against him. Anyone guilty of this offence can be jailed up to three years and fined up to $10,000.

NKF's lawyers, Allen & Gledhill (A&G), applied for an injunction to prevent the two former directors from dealing with their assets, and this was granted by the court last week, according to The Business Times today.

Court documents show that Yong began disposing of his assets a day before conceding defeat in the NKF civil hearing.

On Feb 7, he sold his Four Seasons apartment for $3.88 million. A few days later, he sold his Bencoolen Street apartment for $650,000. He also received $3 million from the collective sale of his Peck Hay Road apartment on March 23.

Former honorary treasurer Loo sold his two cars in two days - a Toyota Camry he had owned for four months and a 1972 Volkswagen Beetle. The Camry was sold for $70,000. Loo's wife lodged a caveat for their house in Jalan Greja, and he also sold his NTUC Income shares for $20,700.

Currently, Yong owes NKF $911,425 while Loo owes $679,254.

The transactions are now being investigated by the Official Assignee, who will decide if the two men were fraudulently removing their property to prevent payment to creditors.

With the court injunction, Yong and Loo are now prevented from dealing with their assets up to the value of some $11 million each - which A&G has judged to be the amount they are each liable to.