THE former chief executive of Informatics Holdings was fined $445,000 yesterday for his role behind misleading statements that showed the school's financials in a rosy light. Ong Boon Kheng, 52, who was convicted last month after a 28-day trial, faced four charges. Three related to the release of financial reports for the education firm's first, second and third quarters in 2003. Profits were overstated by $5.45 million, $8.78 million and $1.54 million respectively. The fourth charge concerned a statement issued to the Singapore Exchange in April 2004 together with a profit warning. It stated that 'the directors and senior management of Informatics were not aware of the overstatement of revenue and profit'. The co-founder of Informatics, Wong Tai, faced similar charges. He pleaded guilty last year to two counts and was fined $240,000. The Commercial Affairs Department ran an investigation and it emerged that profits had been heavily overstated.

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