T.T. DURAI was released from jail on Monday morning after serving two-thirds of his three-month sentence for using a fake invoice to cheat the charity into paying $20,000 to an interior designer friend.

He walked out of the Queenstown Remand Prison at 10.43 am, dressed in a white shirt and greyish dark pants.

He seemed to have lost quite a bit of weight and his hair has turned a greyish white.

After thanking and shaking hands with a prison warden, Durai was quickly whisked away by a burly man into a waiting Hyundai Tucson car.

Durai, 59, started his jail term on June 10, and was released after he was given a one-third remission of his sentence, most probably for 'good behaviour'.

His journey to jail dated to July 2005 when a defamation suit he lost led to inquiries into the affairs of Singapore's biggest charity.

Durai and the NKF board resigned en masse, and various government agencies went over the charity's books with a fine tooth comb.

He lost a civil suit filed by the NKF's new leadership in February last year, and was ordered to pay $4 million back in damages.

He has paid $1.4 million so far.

Criminal charges were brought against him in 2006. His appeal against his conviction and sentence was turned down.