SINGAPORE: The expenditure of the founder and former head of Ren Ci Hospital took centre stage on Friday in the trial involving him and his former personal assistant.

forging documents, among others.

The two allegedly tried to hide an unauthorised loan of S$50,000 made out in May 2004 to help Yeung pay for renovations to his Hong Kong flat.

Tension was evident in court as deputy public prosecutor Jaswant Singh grilled Ming Yi on his multiple investments from 1994 to 2005.

Within a span of 11 years, the 47—year—old monk invested in five properties — two in Singapore and the others in Australia.

The total investment in the five properties which include a penthouse, a condominium and houses, came up to more than S$5.5 million.

Some of the investments were made at a time of financial difficulty, faced by both Ren Ci and Foo Hai Ch’an Monastery, which Ming Yi was managing.

This prompted Mr Singh to question the monk’s rationale in making the investments and he asked the former Ren Ci CEO why he did not sell his properties to raise funds for the two organisations.

In his own defence, Ming Yi explained that he was actually in debt even though he owned properties, which was why he needed to look for money to repay his own debt first before he could attend to the financial state of Ren Ci and Foo Hai Ch’an.

The court also heard that Ming Yi managed to purchase land in Perth to build a house even when he was still in debt. When asked about this, Ming Yi acknowledged that it was his "mistake".

Meanwhile, in the same year that he bought the plot of land, the monk also bought a horse, a BMW car as well as country club memberships for himself and a former Ren Ci staff.

Ming Yi said he does not recall purchasing the BMW.

Evidence produced in court on Friday also showed that in October 2005, Ming Yi received more than S$270,000 for the sale of his Seattle property.

The close relationship between Ming Yi and Yeung was also thrown into the spotlight. Of the three properties Ming Yi acquired in Australia, two were bought together with Yeung.

Ming Yi said this was because he needed Yeung’s help in buying Australian property as the 33—year—old is an Australian citizen living in Hong Kong.

Apart from discrepancies in corporate governance, the prosecutor’s line of questioning hinted that Ming Yi had double standards.

Mr Singh said this was reflected in the court documents which showed the way the monk handled Yeung’s S$50,000 loan, as opposed to loans made out to other staff members.

The hearing will continue on Monday.

the 主人

❤高汉威 aka Hanwei
❤珍惜生命 LoveLife
❤06 MAY 1991
❤Taurus 金牛座
❤Yishun ITE
❤愛の音楽
要好好读书！
卖辆新车!
要好好的爱她

Deviantart
Blogger
BlogSkins
PhotoBucket