T. T. Durai - Charges and Bail

Charges and Bail

Durai was formally accused of having submitted false invoices between 2003 and 2004 to the NKF to make claims for various consultancy services which were never rendered. One invoice was for $20,000 and the other, $5,000. Durai was said to have misled the charity by using the false invoices "knowingly . . . with intent to deceive (the NKF)". Anyone who uses a false or erroneous document, which to his knowledge is intended to mislead, is guilty of an offence under Section 6(c) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Durai was released on bail of $100,000 which was posted by his wife.

On June 11, 2007, Durai was found guilty of misleading the charitable organisation with a falsified invoice of $20,000 which was allegedly for interior design consultancy work done by David Tan, director of the design firm. The invoice, dated December 29, 2003, was meant for work done for various dialysis centres. For this, Durai was sentenced to three months in jail on June 21. He could have been jailed for up to five years and fined $100,000.

On May 30, 2008, he lost the appeal as Justice Tay Yong Kwang said Durai "was in a position of trust and authority at the NKF and the return of the money only came about after investigations into the invoices were underway."

He added that the "money in question belonged to a charity whose funds come from well meaning trusting donors".

His sentence was maintained. However, the judge allowed Durai to defer his sentence to June 10, 2008 because his elderly mother went for a cataract surgery on June 3.

A second charge, concerning the $5,000 invoice, was considered on June 27, 2007. The money was allegedly paid to a company called Decision One International, in September 2003, for finding suitable candidates for a senior management position in the organisation. However, investigations reveal that no such service was rendered to NKF. The charge was later dropped.

He was released from Queenstown Remand Prison at 10.43am on 11 August 2008.