claims made by NKF. However, the decision by the other defendants to continue will have implications to other equally liable directors and third parties (Alwyn Lim, Lawrence Chia, Kweh Soon Han and Chow Kok Fong). The result of Durai conceding will make the trial shorter rather than an expected eight-week trial. Criminal suits Durai was arrested on 17 April 2006. He was out on bail, but will stand for trial with other members of the old National Kidney Foundation board of directors. He has also agreed to pay back S$4 million to the new NKF and was sentenced to 3 months jail for misleading NKF by fabricating a $20,000 invoice. Richard Yong (the former chairman), Mathilda Chua (ex-director) and Loo Say San (ex-treasurer) all declared bankrupt on 16 May 2007. After selling personal properties worth $7.5 million, the former left Singapore without permission early on the morning of 17 May but was apprehended on 4 July 2007 in Hong Kong and extradited back to Singapore on 3 August 2007 where he was charged the next day for charges that the NKF levied on him as well as his flight (or fleeing) from Singapore hours before being declared a bankrupt. Yong said that he had left to settle some personal matters. Yong was sentenced to 15 months in jail for the three charges. Five separate charges were taken into consideration during the sentencing. His sentence will commence from the day that he was extradited back to Singapore. Yong has said that he plans to appeal, but lost the appeal and had to serve out his sentence. However, he was given permission to serve half of his jail term (five months) at home on an electronic tag. Long-term consequences The scandal has raised questions about the level of transparency in other institutions in Singapore. Opposition politicians, notably Chee Soon Juan, have noted that the issues at NKF would probably not have been revealed had T.T. Durai not sued the Straits Times. Four people linked to the Singapore Democratic Party held a silent demonstration outside the Central Provident Fund (CPF) headquarters in July 2005, wearing T-shirts emblazoned with "GIC HDB NKF CPF Transparency now!", thus demanding greater transparency from the Government Investment Corporation (GIC), the Housing Development Board (HDB) and the CPF. The protesters were arrested but later dismissed without charges, with their own countersuit for unlawful detention dismissed with costs. On 21