The trial of Shi Ming Yi

The Ren Ci Hospital charity has been in the spotlight these past few weeks as the trial of its former chief executive officer, Shi Ming Yi (whose real name is Goh Kah Heng) has just begun in the Subordinate Courts.

He faces charges of criminal breach of trust of $50,000 which was allegedly used to renovate the apartment of a 3rd party, and disguising this as a loan to a Buddhist centre. Other charges relate to allegedly making false statements to the Commissioner of Charities which regulates Ren Ci.

Basically, from the investigation point of view of fraud, offences can be divided up into 2 types - the initial offences and the cover up offences. The initital offences are committed for previouslyreasons, eg, to inflate profits artificially, or to dress up the balance sheet. The cover up offences are meant to prevent detection by other parties such as auditors, other employees of the company, etc. Often, the offences might include forgery of documents, and making false statements to regulators (as in this case).