Former Ren Ci CEO Ming Yi approved several loans to staff

Some of our local news on our charity organizations. Are they any different from CEOs with golden parachute? It seems that Ren Ci has become a 'bank' because it is lending money to its staff and the best thing of all, interest free!

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Channel NewsAsia - Friday, April 17

The court on Thursday heard that Ming Yi had approved several loans to various staff.

Among them was Dr Ong Seh Hong who is currently the community hospital’s chief operating officer and clinical director of Ren Ci Hospital and Medicare Centre. Dr Ong is also a Member of Parliament for Marine Parade GRC.

When contacted by Channel NewsAsia, the MP said in a letter dated Friday: "I was an employee of GIC in 1999. I was offered by Ren Ci Hospital and Medicare Centre to be Director, Medical & Paramedical Services in January 2000.

"However to leave GIC, I had to pay S$560,000 to settle my outstanding staff housing loan. I agreed to join Ren Ci on condition that I received a loan of S$60,000, to pay off in part the amount of S$560,000 and I paid the remaining S$500,000 from bank loan.

“When I borrowed the sum of S$60,000 from Ren Ci, I was not an MP. It was lent to me as staff, and was part of the terms on which I agreed to join Ren Ci. I have since repaid the sum fully."

The court also learnt that Ming Yi’s former aide, Raymond Yeung, was offered an employment contract in 2001, despite his unsuccessful application for an employment pass.

Ming Yi subsequently granted Yeung a S$50,000 loan, even though the latter remained without an employment pass until 2004. This was recorded on Ren Ci’s books as a loan made to Mandala Buddhist Cultural Centre.

At issue now is whether Yeung, who is an Australian citizen and only became a Singapore Permanent Resident in 2006, had received the loan as a legitimate Ren Ci employee.

The trial continues.

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