THE former head of Singapore's biggest charity was found guilty Monday, June 11, of falsifying documents and faces up to five years in jail.

T.T. Durai, the former chief executive of the National Kidney Foundation, also faces a maximum fine of S$100,000 (US$65,359).

District judge Aedit Abdullah said evidence submitted during the trial showed Durai was guilty of deliberately cheating the foundation with a false invoice of $20,000.

The judge said Durai intended to cheat the foundation with the false invoice to pay a firm for consultancy services when in actual fact it was to reward an associate for his fund-raising efforts.

"Having come to the conclusion therefore that the charge was made out, I accordingly find the accused guilty and convict him," the judge said.

The court is expected to pass sentence on June 21 after Durai's lawyer makes a final mitigation plea.

Durai stepped down from the foundation in 2005 following revelations he drew an annual salary of $600,000 plus first-class air travel and upkeep for his luxury car.

The scandal emerged after Durai filed a defamation suit against the Straits Times newspaper when it reported that a gold-plated tap had been installed in the private bathroom of his office.

The disclosures triggered public outrage because an estimated two-thirds of Singaporeans -- many of them working class -- had donated money to the foundation, which provides subsidised dialysis services to kidney patients.

Critics said Singapore's reputation for good corporate governance was dented following the revelations, prompting the government to subject charities to stricter regulation.

Singapore is consistently ranked by independent business surveys as among the least corrupt countries in Asia.

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