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'.

Ong was fined $140,000 on each of the first three counts and $25,000 over the misleading SGX statement.

The co-founder of Informatics, Wong Tai, faced similar charges. He pleaded guilty last year to two counts and was fined $240,000.

Informatics, once a well-known name in the private education field, fell from grace after it issued a 2004 profit warning and then suspended its shares for a fortnight.

The Commercial Affairs Department ran an investigation and it emerged that profits had been heavily overstated.

It posted a full-year loss of $42.5 million for the year ended March 31, 2004 and is still struggling to regain its glory days.

Deputy public prosecutor David Chew said Ong had played an active role in altering the way Informatics recognised its revenue.

In some, revenue from course fees was booked as soon as a student made a loan application or received the course materials, even though lessons had not started.

Ong's lawyer, senior counsel Michael Khoo, told the court that his client had relied on the company's qualified finance personnel when he allowed the accounting policy changes to take place.

He added that Ong was a generous man who gave three million Informatics Holdings shares to the Lighthouse Evangelism Church. The church sold the stock in 2002 to make good a $4 million shortfall in its building fund.

Specialist judge Tan Cheng Han said yesterday that there was no evidence that Mr Ong desired to enrich himself.

He had said earlier that Ong 'felt a personal responsibility to deliver good results for Informatics for the benefit of its employees and shareholders'.

The judge agreed that 'Mr Ong may not have been as well served as he could have been by the relevant professionals within the company... even though I nevertheless come to the view that he was aware of what was going on'.

Ong, who was accompanied to the Subordinate Courts by his wife, the church's pastor and well-wishers, will appeal. He told The Straits Times: 'The truth must be told.'