Wife of charity chief confused in GBP1.27m launder bid, court told

The wife of a former chairman of Singapore's National Kidney Foundation claimed she was under the influence of her husband when she attempted to launder GBP1.27 million (HK$15 million) through a Hong Kong bank account, the District Court heard yesterday.

Barrister Toby Jenkyn-Jones, for On Shu Kio, 66, also claimed it was a bank blunder that had led to the transfer of the cash, although On pleaded guilty to a charge of money laundering on December 8.

Judge Andrew Chan Hing-wai previously had heard that the money was transferred to Hong Kong in an attempt to evade payment of a debt her husband, Richard Yong Kun Da, owed to the foundation in Singapore.

Yong, who was chairman of the biggest charitable organisation in Singapore, was declared bankrupt and was jailed for 15 months in the city state after being convicted last year of money laundering and failing to declare his assets under the bankruptcy law.

Yong was also liable for S$899,740 (HK$4.71 million) arising out of a civil suit brought by a new board of directors at the foundation against him and other directors concerning the use of foundation funds.

When he failed to settle the civil suit debt, a Singaporean court declared him bankrupt and prohibited transfer of his assets.

Mr Jenkyn-Jones said that the money, proceeds from the sale of Singaporean properties, was transferred from Singapore to a bank account in the sole name of On because of a bank mistake.