City Harvest Church founder faces the music

[StarshipTroopers]

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[ShangTsung]

Updated: 07/17/2014 21:38 | By Channel NewsAsia

CHC trial: Claims of risk-taking as accused cross swords

SINGAPORE: Former City Harvest Church investment manager Chew Eng Han crossed swords with co-accused John Lam for a second day on Thursday (July 17), pointing to significant parts of Lam's testimony which he said were not true.

Both are among the six church leaders accused of using millions of church dollars to buy sham bonds to bankroll the pop music career of Sun Ho -- wife of church founder Kong Hee.

When he took the stand on Monday (July 14), former church board member John Lam singled out Chew Eng Han as the man who suggested the church invest in the bonds.

Lam said in June 2007, Chew asked to meet him and proposed to be the church's fund manager as he was setting up his own fund management company.

On Thursday (July 17), Chew, who is conducting his own defence after discharging his lawyer, said such a meeting "never happened" and produced evidence to show he was in Japan at that time. He also pointed to emails between some of the accused to show the idea to invest in the bonds had not been conceptualised then.

In addition, Chew said it was not true that he set up his firm specifically to manage the church's funds. Emails showed that Chew had informed Kong Hee that he wanted to set up his own firm because it was his dream, and personal career decision, and had done so in April 2007.

Chew noted that this was well before the decision was made to invest in the bonds.

He also pointed out that the church's investment into Xtron bonds had a mission objective, as this would go to funding the Crossover Project and that it was Kong Hee who oversaw all spiritual matters.

"A fund manager has no expertise in spiritual matters. You cannot engage a fund manager to assess the missions benefit of the church," Chew said.

- Penchant for risk -

Over the past couple of days, the point of risk-taking being inherent in the church's DNA has been brought up -- pointing to its investments, mission plans, and even the design and construction of its building in Jurong West.

Chew said the church was told that because it was digging eight storeys below ground level for the building's auditorium, there was a risk that surrounding HDB flats could collapse. Thus, experts, technicians and engineers were called in by the church.

The auditorium also does not have any columns to support it, which is a risk -- according to Chew -- when there are some 2,000 people gathered in that room for worship on weekends.

"The danger is that you have a whole load of the building… above the ground level with its weight pressing down, all the way down eight storeys, and that's where we have 2,000 people worshipping every Saturday, Sunday, without any columns supporting it. There is some form of risk," added Chew.

In response to Chew's point that City Harvest Church has always been risk-takers, Lam said: "I already said in my evidence that I had confidence in Pastor Kong that he has never failed in any projects, any major projects so far."

This penchant for risk was also reinforced by defence counsel N Sreenivasan, who is acting for senior pastor Tan Ye Peng.

He pointed to various examples to show that the church has always "thought big, and taken the shot buoyed by their beliefs and continue to do so".

"Saying that your pastor's wife is going to be a star in the US is also something most people will not do. Believing that you are going to achieve certain things is something most of us who…make all decisions rationally do not do," said Mr Sreenivasan, adding that this could be part of the church's thought process.

Lam will be cross-examined by the prosecution on Friday (July 18). Church founder Kong Hee will take the stand in his defence when the trial resumes in August. - CNA/ec

 

[StarshipTroopers]

Sun Ho's albums would make millions

Ronald Loh The New Paper Friday, Jul 18, 2014

Serina Wee arriving at the courts on Friday, Jul 18.

She is svelte, almost fragile.

But co-accused John Lam sought to paint Serina Wee in a different light yesterday.

It was she who projected Sun Ho's albums would make millions.

And when he wanted details how, it was Wee who did not respond to his doubts.

Lam, 46, and Wee, along with City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee and three other church leaders are accused of misusing more than $50 million of church money through sham bonds.

Some of this money was allegedly used to fund Ms Ho's music career. She is married to Kong, 49.

In the ongoing trial, Lam said music production firm Xtron - which managed Ms Ho's music career - had projected the singer would be a big hit in the US.

Ms Ho was the face of the megachurch's programme meant to reach out to non-Christians through her secular music albums.

Lam said Xtron had projected she would amass $16 million in 2011 and $23 million the following year through her American album sales.

But Lam, then a CHC board member, said he had his doubts over the company's projected sales.

When he learnt that the release of her album in the US would be delayed in May 2008, he said he wanted to review the value of Xtron. He then received the projected sales figures from fellow accused and former church finance manager Wee, 37, who also provided accounting services to Xtron.

"The big test will be to convince the auditor that we can get album sales of 16 million and 23 million in 2011 and 2012," Lam had written in reply to Wee in a 2008 e-mail, which was read out in court yesterday by his lawyer, Senior Counsel Kenneth Tan.

Lam said he had asked Wee to justify the number of albums that would be sold, the status of the album production and the sales volume as compared to other original artistes at the time.

But he said Wee had replied that "the information... is not ready yet" and there was no further correspondence in the next few days. The album was never released.

 

[StarshipTroopers]

City Harvest trial: Xtron not operating independently of church, says prosecution

Published on Jul 18, 2014 11:58 PM

City Harvest senior pastor Kong Hee arriving at the State Courts for the City Harvest trial on 18 July 2014. The prosecution in the case argued on July 18, 2014, that music production company Xtron was tied to City Harvest Church in a complicit web of business ties that the church had tried to keep under wraps, hiding the relationship even from members. -- ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN

By Walter Sim

SINGAPORE - Music production firm Xtron was not an "independent commercial entity at arm's length" from City Harvest Church, but a puppet of the church board, prosecutors argued on Friday.

In questioning former board member John Lam, the first of six indicted church officials to testify, Chief Prosecutor Mavis Chionh painted a complicit web of business ties that the church had tried to keep under wraps - even from its own members.

Lam, 46, earlier testified that Xtron and various other entities were not linked to the church. He also said that there were fears of public disapproval of its Crossover Project, which was fronted by founder Kong Hee's wife, Ms Ho Yeow Sun.

The church had wanted to woo non-converts through Ms Ho's secular pop music. Kong, Lam and four others are accused of siphoning about $50 million from the church's building fund into sham bonds with two firms, including Xtron, to bankroll her career.

 

[StarshipTroopers]

Updated: 08/04/2014 14:00 | By Channel NewsAsia

City Harvest trial: Two among accused had stamps made of their signatures

SINGAPORE: Two of the City Harvest Church leaders had allowed stamps to be made of their signatures to be used on Xtron invoices in their capacity as the company's directors, it was revealed in court on Monday (Aug 4).

This was according to an email shown to the court on the first day of the fifth leg of the trial - expected to last until the end of the month.

The six church leaders are accused of misusing millions of church dollars to buy sham bonds from Xtron and Firna to bankroll the secular music career of Sun Ho, the wife of church founder Kong Hee.

In resuming its cross-examination of former church board member John Lam, the prosecution continued its argument that Xtron - the artiste manager for Ms Ho - was not an independent, commercial entity that operates at arm's length from the church.

It produced a 2003 email from the church's Human Resource and Admin Manager which sought approval from Mr Lam and Mr Chew to make stamps of their signatures to be used on Xtron invoices "instead of running to get you to sign".

The manager had added that it was preferred that neither Deputy Senior Pastor Tan Ye Peng or former church Finance Manager Serina Wee should sign the documents "so as to keep Xtron separate from CHC".

Both Mr Lam and Mr Chew had agreed, according to the email.

"The reality is you were quite happy to rubber stamp decisions for Xtron because you knew they were made by Pastor Kong Hee and the church," charged Deputy Public Prosecutor Mavis Chionh.

She pointed out that in the first two years of its incorporation, Xtron did not have any staff because its day-to-day operations were taken care of by Ms Wee and the church staff.

Emails between some of the church leaders had also contained a proposal to withdraw money from the church building fund in order to fund Xtron and the Crossover Project. - CNA/es

 

[StarshipTroopers]

Updated: 08/04/2014 23:49 | By Channel NewsAsia

CHC spent half a million dollars buying Sun Ho's unsold CDs

SINGAPORE: Sun Ho was not the successful singer City Harvest Church had made her out to be. Evidence showed the church spent about half a million dollars to buy her unsold Mandarin CDs.

The profitability of her artiste management company Xtron was also questioned, as the trial involving the church's leader Kong Hee and his five deputies resumed on Monday (Aug 4).

The six church leaders are accused of misusing millions of church funds to buy sham bonds to bankroll Sun Ho's music career.

She had been touted as a big commercial success, but lead prosecutor Mavis Chionh said the financial statements told a different story. In 2004, City Harvest Church spent about half a million dollars to buy her unsold (Mandarin) CDs - numbering at least 32,000 copies - to give away to overseas ministries and overseas churches.

These details surfaced as the prosecution sought to highlight inconsistencies in former church board member John Lam's evidence. He had cited Ms Ho's success as a reason the church should invest in bonds issued by Xtron - her artiste management company.

The Prosecutor had strong words for Lam. She called his evidence incredible, and a lie, and said he was desperate to find an explanation as to why he had gone along with a plan to let the church sink millions of dollars into what were essentially junk bonds.

Lam pointed out that junk bonds were not necessarily bad bonds, and added that he had believed that Sun's US album sales would be good enough to cover the obligations of the bond. But the prosecution said that as a former director of Xtron, Lam would have known it was not a profitable company.

For example, its only asset was a laptop, with all other assets loaned by the church. It did not even have the budget to pay for a S$46,000 freight services bill.

The prosecution also drove home the point that Xtron was not the independent entity it had been made out to be. For one, Lam and his fellow accused Chew Eng Han had agreed to stamps of their signatures being made, to be used on Xtron invoices. Ms Chionh said the two were "happy to rubber stamp decisions", knowing they were made by Kong and the church.

It was also heard that the bulk of Xtron's funding came from the church members. For example, Indonesian businessman Wahju Hanafi's donations to the Church Building Fund were refunded to him, and channelled to Xtron. The building fund pledges and tithes of some other members including Lam were also diverted to Xtron. The trial continues. - CNA/xy

 

[ShangTsung]

Updated: 08/05/2014 22:24 | By Channel NewsAsia

Nearly S$5m of City Harvest Church funds used for Sun Ho's album-related expenses

SINGAPORE: Church monies to the tune of S$4.79 million were used to meet expenses related to Sun Ho's music albums, and this was something the church leaders had tried to hide, said the prosecution in the trial of City Harvest Church leaders on Tuesday (Aug 5).

Ms Ho is the wife of City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee - one of six church leaders accused of using church money to buy sham bonds in order to fund her secular pop music career. One of the companies the church invested in was Xtron, Ms Ho's artiste management firm.

The prosecution said the church leaders wanted to use the Xtron bond proceeds to cover up the fact that they had already used up the church's advance rental monies to pay for Ms Ho's album-related expenses. This was not in the bond subscription agreement.

An email showed the church's former finance manager Serina Wee suggesting that the cost of paying back the rental monies be hidden under a travelling and salary cost in the use of proceeds clause in the agreement.

The prosecution has charged that payments between the church and Xtron was essentially moving money from one pocket to another. Its case is that the bonds were merely a device to funnel money from the church's building fund into Xtron to be used for the church's Crossover Project. Fronted by Ms Ho, the project was the church's way of evangelising through pop music.

"The idea of using Xtron bonds was so it could be presented as an investment, and hide the fact that you were using building fund monies to fund Sun's career," said Lead Prosecutor Mavis Chionh, adding that there were telling signs that the bond investments were not genuine. For example, the church did not carry out due diligence on Xtron before subscribing to the bonds.

Money that went to Xtron was largely used to fund the church's Crossover Project. In cross-examining former church board member John Lam, the prosecution pointed out that there was no basis for Xtron's huge projected sales of Ms Ho's then-delayed US album.

Xtron had projected album sales of S$16 million in 2011, and S$23 million in 2012. Ms Chionh pointed out that given there was neither a distribution contract nor an album contract, the figures were either "false, or at very best, purely speculative".

Lam said it was his belief in Kong Hee's ability to make the Crossover Project a success which led to him supporting the church's investment into the Xtron bonds, despite knowing that Xtron was not a profitable company, and that Sun Ho's music albums were losing money. This led the prosecutor to call his story an "incredible invention." - CNA/xy

 

[ShangTsung]

Updated: 08/05/2014 14:54 | By Channel NewsAsia

City Harvest trial: Lam explains support for investment in Xtron

SINGAPORE: It was his belief in City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee's ability to make the Crossover Project a success that led to his support for the church's investment into "junk bonds", former church board member John Lam said in court on Tuesday (Aug 5).

Lam said the investments were made despite knowing that Xtron - the bond issuer and artiste manager for Sun Ho, the wife of Kong - was not profitable, and that Ms Ho's music albums were losing money.

The Crossover Project, fronted by Ms Ho, is the church's way of evangelism through secular pop music.

In its cross-examination of Lam, the prosecution called his version of events an "incredible story". They charged that Xtron bonds were simply a device to funnel money out of the church's building fund into Xtron, as the accused persons saw that they could draw on the building fund.

"The idea of using Xtron bonds was so it could be presented as an investment, and hide the fact that you were using building fund monies to fund Sun's career," said Deputy Public Prosecutor Mavis Chionh, adding that Lam, as a trusted member of the church, would have known this. - CNA/kk

 

[StarshipTroopers]

Updated: 08/06/2014 12:51 | By Channel NewsAsia

City Harvest trial: Church leaders falsified documents, prosecution alleges

SINGAPORE: The leaders of City Harvest Church had planned to falsify paperwork to show auditors that the church had assessed the Xtron bonds to be a good investment, the prosecution charged as the high-profile trial resumed on Wednesday (Aug 6).

Xtron is one of the two companies the six church leaders are accused of using church monies to buy sham bonds from, in order to bankroll the secular pop music career of Sun Ho, the wife of church founder Kong Hee.

On Wednesday, the prosecution produced evidence to show that the dates of certain documents did not square with the evidence heard in court so far.

For example, the minutes of a church board meeting dated Aug 3, 2008, reflected that the church's investment committee had already reviewed and approved the Xtron bonds. However, the investment committee meeting only took place two days later, on Aug 5.

Similarly, the minutes from that investment committee meeting were also backdated to July 29.

DECEPTION OR A MISTAKE?

Upon being questioned by the prosection, former church board member John Lam told the court the wrong dates were simply "a mistake". He had seen both sets of minutes, and signed off on the church board minutes, he said.

Lead prosecutor Mavis Chionh disputed this, calling it a "deliberate act" to present a certain picture to the church's auditors - that the church had considered the recoverability of the bonds in July 2008, even before the auditors raised the issue on Aug 1, 2008.

Ms Chionh argued that Lam was fully aware of the falsification and deception.

She also presented examples of other instances when the church leaders did not present a full picture of the bond investments to the church's executive members, and in fact sometimes gave them misleading impressions.

She said that this was to prevent them from discovering that money meant to have been spent on church-related matters, such as property, was instead being spent on the Crossover Project, the church's way of evangelism through secular pop music. - CNA/es

 

[StarshipTroopers]

Updated: 08/07/2014 14:46 | By Channel NewsAsia

City Harvest trial: Lam using Chew as a scapegoat, prosecution argues

SINGAPORE: Former City Harvest Church board member John Lam was trying to use his co-accused and former church investment manager Chew Eng Han as a "scapegoat", alleged the prosecution, as the high-profile trial involving the six church leaders resumed on Thursday (Aug 7).

This was in relation to a "secret letter" that Lam had signed on behalf of the church board - even though the board had not been told of the letter, and had not given him the mandate to sign it.

The six defendants are accused of using millions of church dollars to buy sham bonds from two companies, Xtron and Firna, in order to fund the secular music career of Sun Ho, the wife of church founder Kong Hee.

The "secret letter" was between the church and glassware firm Firna, which is owned by Indonesian businessman and longtime church member Wahju Hanafi.

The church was given a personal guarantee from Mr Hanafi in the event the Indonesian failed to redeem the church-Firna bonds. A requirement under that agreement was that the church could convert the bonds issued by Mr Hanafi into shares in Firna if he failed to pay the church back.

But Mr Hanafi's father-in-law, who held 20 per cent of the company, was reluctant to agree as he felt it would dilute his shares in the company. As such, the secret letter was drafted which stated that the church would sell back the shares to Mr Hanafi and his father-in-law, at a nominal value of US$1, in the event the bonds were converted into shares.

Lam explained that he signed the letter because Mr Hanafi had assured Chew Eng Han that he had no intention of enforcing or using the letter, and wanted it only for the purpose of appeasing his father-in-law.

FALSE STATEMENTS

When pressed about why he had signed the letter without telling the church board, Lam pointed the finger at Chew. As Chew was the one handling the documents involving the Firna bonds, Lam said he left Chew to get the board's approval, and to "complete the job".

This prompted Lead Prosecutor Mavis Chionh to respond: "Well, that's very convenient because Mr Chew Eng Han seems to pop up very frequently in your explanations for why you did or didn't do certain things."

Lam also admitted that the statements in the letter were false, as he had no written mandate from the church board to sign it.

"If we are to believe you, this letter was going to be used to trick and bluff the father-in-law, because he had asked for some reassurance," said the lead prosecutor.

Mr Lam did not deny this.

The prosecution argued that Lam's willingness to sign the secret letter, which negates the convertability feature of the bond, is evidence that the Firna bonds were a sham. The convertibility feature, it asserts, was there to create the appearance that there was a legitimate protective feature for the church.

The prosecution has said that the investment in the Firna bond were simply a vehicle to channel the church's monies to fund Ms Ho's music career.

- CNA/es

 

[StarshipTroopers]

Updated: 08/07/2014 22:25 | By Channel NewsAsia

Five City Harvest Church leaders on trial met to discuss their defence

SINGAPORE: Five of the six City Harvest Church leaders had met at least once in 2013 to discuss their defence, according to an email chain highlighted by the prosecution in court on Thursday (Aug 7). The court heard that church founder Kong Hee was not present at the meeting. The leaders are accused of using monies from the church's building fund to buy sham bonds in Xtron and Firna to fund the secular music career of Sun Ho - the wife of church founder Kong Hee.

In an email, the church's former investment manager and co-accused Chew Eng Han says he is "convinced" that they are not on the same page regarding the substance of their defence and some of them had shifted their position on what the bonds were actually for.

He adds that he is "disturbed" by this, and that these differences should be discussed when they next meet. Chew was also the one who brought the email chain to the court's attention. It was admitted after a closed-door hearing on Tuesday.

Another email also revealed that his co-accused - John Lam, Serina Wee, and Sharon Tan had also raised concerns about whether they were all on the same page about the round-tripping charges.

In an email to Chew dated Feb 3, 2013, John Lam wrote: "The 2 girls have a concern. If on the bond issue there seem to be a "different page", how about the round trip? Are we having the different view as well. Obviously we rather not." He then suggests a meet-up to discuss this. When initially questioned by the prosecution, he had denied talking to the other accused persons about what should be said at trial.

The prosecution then questioned Lam about why - if he was truly honest - would he be worried about his co-accused taking a different view of the charges.

Lead Prosecutor Mavis Chionh asked: "Do you agree that if you are an honest accused person who is going to go to court and tell the truth... you would not be trying to meet up with your co-accused persons and worrying about their taking a different view from yours on the charges?"

In wrapping up her cross-examination on Lam, Ms Chionh also said that Lam had placed the interests of the Crossover Project over and above his duty as a church board member to ensure proper stewardship of the church's Building Fund. She also pointed out that Lam knew using the Building Fund monies to finance Ms Ho's career was an unauthorised use of the funds, and that his keen awareness of this was why he had desperately tried to claim ignorance during the trial.

"It is also because of this guilty knowledge that you are now trying to disassociate yourself from the transactions and instead to push the blame to some of your co-accused, from blaming Sharon Tan, for example, for wrongly recording minutes, to blaming Chew Eng Han, whom you say was responsible for feeding you information," she said.

Ms Chionh also gave a scathing assessment of Lam's defence saying that it has essentially been one of "I don't know, nobody told me, and if they did tell me, they didn't ask me for advice". She said given his status within the church, financial expertise, and documentary evidence, his defence is not only "untenable" but "deeply cynical". - CNA/ly

 

[ShangTsung]

Updated: 08/08/2014 23:10 | By Channel NewsAsia

Unsold CDs does not mean poor album sales: City Harvest Church member

SINGAPORE: Just because City Harvest Church spent some half a million dollars to buy Sun Ho's unsold CDs in 2004, that did not mean her album sales were not doing well, said former church board member John Lam in court on Friday (Aug 8).

He was defending his claim that Ms Ho's success was a reason why he supported the church's investment into bonds issued by Xtron - her artiste management company. Lam is one of six church leaders accused of using church dollars to buy shams bonds to fund Ms Ho's secular pop music career.

On Monday, the prosecution pointed out that Lam should have known that far from having a track record of successful albums with high sales, Ms Sun's albums were losing money, and the church was having to spend large sums of money to buy up the unsold CDs.

He told the court that unsold CDs simply meant there was inventory left behind. After all, Lam said church founder Kong Hee had told the church board that sales of Ms Ho's album were good. In 2002, Kong also told the church that an earlier album of hers had sold some 150,000 copies, hitting double platinum sales.

Lam said the church board approved the purchase of the unsold CDs in 2004 with the intention of giving them to its overseas ministries and visitors. Lam added that this was a way to grow awareness of the success of the church's Crossover Project. The project - fronted by Ms Ho - is the church's way of evangelising through secular pop music.

Earlier in the day, he had also denied being a "rubber stamp" as a director of Xtron. The prosecution has argued that Xtron was not an independent, commercial entity operating at arm's length from the church. Lam insisted that as an Xtron director then, he would not have signed or approved anything that he did not believe in, even if it was asked of him by the church or Kong.

He explained that he had agreed to a stamp of his signature being made - to be used on Xtron invoices - only because he expected the staff to have verified that these were valid invoices. With Lam's evidence wrapped up, Kong is expected to take the stand when the trial resumes on Monday. - CNA/ly

 

[StarshipTroopers]

Updated: 08/11/2014 14:05 | By Channel NewsAsia

City Harvest trial: Kong Hee takes the stand to defend church's Crossover Project

SINGAPORE: As City Harvest Church's congregation grew, founder Kong Hee said his role evolved from that of a "shepherd" to being a "rancher".

Kong was speaking in court on Monday (Aug 11) about the growth of the church and how his role in it transformed, given an increasingly heavy travel schedule due to his role as the church's "chief missionary", and his overseas missionary work commitments.

Between 2008 and 2009 - before investigations commenced in 2010 - Kong said he would spend most of each month out of Singapore. Because he was not around as often as before, Kong said he trusted members of the church board, including his co-accused, the church's lawyers and auditors to flag any issues that arose.

Still, in opening remarks to the court, Kong's defence counsel Edwin Tong said: "He (Kong) will not seek to distance himself from the transactions which have taken place. He will give clear consistent evidence of what he knows, and what he did."

Kong told the court he got "very edgy" every time a charity got into trouble, and he wanted - in his absence - for the church's account to be able to withstand scrutiny by any watchdog or authority.

In 2003, the church engaged a senior counsel on a retainer basis, to shore up its corporate governance. This was following allegations by then-church member Roland Poon, who alleged that church funds were used to finance Ms Sun Ho's career. He later retracted his allegations and made public apologies.

Kong said the incident was a "wake-up call" for the church, highlighting the reality that it was difficult to manage and control what takes place in the public domain. Mr Jimmy Yim from Drew and Napier was then engaged to inject "rigidity and structure" to the church's corporate governance, and the relationship continued till 2010.

Auditor Foong Daw Ching's name was mentioned numerous times by Kong throughout the day, and he described the auditor as both a dear friend, and an "ultra-conservative consultant". Kong said he felt happy and assured that the church's financial and audit matters were being looked after by Mr Foong.

Evidence earlier in the trial revealed that Kong's deputies had sought advice from Mr Foong even though he was not the church's lead auditor at the time. Kong said he would always direct them to see Mr Foong, before the church embarked on any major financial transactions, especially those involving significant amounts.

CROSSOVER PROJECT'S IMPACT ON THE CHURCH

Monday's appearance marked the first time Kong - accused along with five deputies of misusing millions of church dollars to bankroll the church's Crossover Project - is taking the stand in his defence.

The project, fronted by Kong's wife Sun Ho, is the church's way of spreading the gospel through secular pop music. Kong said in court that the project was supported by the church members and its board, and had grown the church's congregation "exponentially".

"If not for the Crossover, we would be just another neighbourhood church. The Crossover Project doubled, tripled our congregation size," he told the court.

Kong also elaborated on how the church members had supported the project, not just in donations or by buying Ms Ho's albums, but also volunteering to help at her outreach concerts overseas - entirely at their own expense.

EVANGELICAL CONCERTS

In giving the court a lengthy explanation of how the Crossover Project was conceived, Kong said that Ms Ho and the church did not lose sight of their evangelical purpose.

He explained how at her outreach concerts, she would perform secular songs for the first 75 minutes, before sharing her testimony as a Christian and singing one Gospel song.

The court heard that following the launch of two of her albums, Ms Ho reached out to 109,000 people through concerts in places including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia and Sweden. As a result, 33,000 people "received Christ into their lives".

Kong's lawyer Edwin Tong also emphasised that none of the accused persons stole, cheated or otherwise profited dishonestly from the church's monies, and there was no financial loss to the church.

- CNA/es

 

[StarshipTroopers]

City Harvest trial: I went from 'shepherd' to 'rancher' as church grew, says Kong Hee

Published on Aug 11, 2014 12:04 PM

As City Harvest Church's congregation grew, the role of its founder Kong Hee turned from that of a "shepherd" to a "rancher", he told the court on Monday. -- TNP PHOTO: KIAT TAN

By Ian Poh

SINGAPORE - As City Harvest Church's congregation grew, the role of its founder Kong Hee turned from that of a "shepherd" to a "rancher", he told the court on Monday. The senior pastor, who faces three counts of criminal breach of trust, was taking the stand for the first time in a long-running trial, over the alleged misuse of $50 million of church funds.

The mood in court was calm as Kong answered questions posed by his lawyer, Mr Edwin Tong. Kong's wife, Ms Ho Yeow Sun, was not present as she has been named as a defence witness.

He began by describing his evolving role in the megachurch over the years. Kong said that he was on a first-name basis with all members when it was established in 1992, but after 2001, his focus shifted away from day to day management as he led work trips overseas, among other things.

Kong added that an "overwhelming majority" of the congregation supported the Crossover Project, the church's mission to reach out to non-churchgoers through pop music. It was fronted by Ms Ho, who performs under the stage name Sun Ho. Many church members had bought Ms Ho's albums, said Kong. The church board had also backed Ms Ho's foray into the United States market, and wanted to expand the project "to the whole world".

 

[StarshipTroopers]

Updated: 08/12/2014 15:28 | By Channel NewsAsia

City Harvest trial: Sun Ho ‘uncomfortable’ with Asian-reggae style, says Kong

SINGAPORE: Sun Ho felt uncomfortable singing Asian-reggae songs as she felt she was not a "natural fit", City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee said in court on Tuesday (Aug 12).

Songwriter and producer Wyclef Jean had been roped in to produce Ho’s debut English album in 2006, and wanted it to feature Asian-reggae music. But Kong, who is facing criminal breach of trust charges, said his wife, Ho, felt reggae music was not her style, despite the number of hits that her single China Wine – featuring Wyclef – was getting on YouTube.

Kong and five of his deputies are accused of using church monies to fund Ho's secular pop music career.

Taking the stand in his defence for the second day, Kong said they were excited about working with Wyclef because of his reputation as a "hitmaker" and his ability to help artistes from outside the US break into the American music industry. One example was Columbian singer Shakira, who had collaborated with Wyclef on a hit Latino-reggae song Hips Don't Lie.

Wyclef had wanted to re-record Ho's album in an Asian-reggae style, as he felt the songs she had already recorded were "too white" for her and did not sound authentic.

"We were concerned if this was the way to go ... it worked for Shakira, but as Asians, we come from a more conservative background," said Kong, adding that they were still open to the idea if it would help Ho break into the secular US market.

(Picture: A screengrab from Sun Ho's China Wine music video on YouTube)

Ms Ho later parted ways with Wyclef in 2008 due to escalating costs. Kong said US music producers had proposed pumping another US$10 million into marketing costs, which made him concerned. "I think at that point in time we already spent about US$5 million in that project, so this is - to me, was very, very high," he said, adding that Wyclef and a high-level Sony Music executive later further increased their budget, which also made him feel "uncomfortable."

Kong said he had pushed for more realistic and conservative budgets for Ms Ho's album as he wanted Xtron to be able to recover its investment. He said he was mindful the church had invested its building fund monies into Xtron bonds and the bond proceeds used to support the album, so the church must not suffer any loss, and get its money back with interest.

He also said he studied the budgets and projections sent to him by the US music producers in a "deliberate and careful" way so as to negotiate the best deal before presenting it to the Xtron directors for approval.

This included sending to his team - co-accused Tan Ye Peng and Serina Wee, to independently check the numbers. "Constantly, I would try to push for more conservative budgets, have worst case scenarios, and work on contingency planning," he added.

Kong also said that Xtron directors made their own decisions. And even though they were church members and he had some influence over them as their senior pastor, he said he never took advantage of this influence to make them do his bidding.

Ms Ho's English album was eventually never released, but it was part of the reason why the church decided to venture into the US for its Crossover Project, the court heard. The project, fronted by Ho, is the church's way of evangelizing through secular pop music.

Kong told the court that it was important that Sun succeeded in the US as it would open doors for the church to preach the Christian message – not just in Asia, but around the globe. "If Sun made it in the US, it would open a big door for our missions," he added.

The court was earlier told that Ms Ho had success with her work in the US, with at least two of her songs topping dance charts in the US and UK, based on club spins. - CNA/cy

 

[ShangTsung]

City Harvest trial: Kong Hee wanted to recoup church's investment in wife's music career

Published on Aug 12, 2014 8:42 PM

City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee said in court on Tuesday, Aug 12, 2014, that he had done his best to make sure the church could recover money it had invested in his wife Ho Yeow Sun's music career. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

By Feng Zengkun

Singapore - City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee said in court on Tuesday that he had done his best to make sure the church could recover money it had invested in his wife Ho Yeow Sun's music career.

This included making sure that the budget for her foray into the United States music scene was not too excessive, questioning American producers' profit and loss projections for her debut English album to make sure they were realistic, and replacing noted producers like Haitian hip hop artiste Wyclef Jean when they asked for too much money for their work on the album, said Kong.

Kong and five others face various charges for their part in allegedly misusing some $50 million of church funds to boost Ms Ho's music career, and then to cover this up. City Harvest had invested church funds in bonds issued by music production firm Xtron Productions, Ms Ho's manager at the time. This money was used to finance her foray into the US. The prosecution believes the bonds were shams made to enable the misuse of church funds.

Questioned by his lawyer Edwin Tong, Kong said: "I did my level best to make sure that all of the money being put into the US album would come back. I spent many many hours working on the budgets to ensure the recoverability. Why? Because the church had invested its building fund in Xtron and I wanted to be sure the church suffered no loss."

 

[ShangTsung]

City Harvest trial: Founder Kong Hee said he did his part to ensure church funds used properly

Published on Aug 11, 2014 7:44 PM

Kong Hee leaving State Courts during lunch break on 11 Aug 2014. City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee took the stand for the first time on Monday during the ongoing City Harvest trial, and insisted that he did his part to make sure the use of church funds was above board. -- ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG

By Feng Zengkun

SINGAPORE - City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee took the stand for the first time on Monday during the ongoing City Harvest trial, and insisted that he did his part to make sure the use of church funds was above board.

He had made sure that auditors and lawyers, including a senior counsel, looked into the church's transactions, and put his faith into advice given by his "confidante" and respected auditor Foong Daw Ching.

Even though Mr Foong testified last September that he could not recall what advice he had given, Kong said the auditor "took it upon himself to keep an eye on all our accounts". "In fact, he made me a promise that if something was wrong, he would contact me," said Kong.

Kong and five of his deputies face various charges for their part in allegedly misusing some $50 million in church funds to boost Kong's wife Ho Yeow Sun's pop music career, and to cover this up. The defence has consistently said her music was part of a church-approved project to evangelise.

 

[ShangTsung]

Sun Ho sounded 'too white' so Wyclef Jean suggested an Asian-Reggae fusion: Kong

Published on Aug 12, 2014 1:50 PM

City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee (right) and his pop singer-wife Sun Ho leaving the State Courts on April 8, 2014. City Harvest founder Kong Hee and his wife Ho Yeow Sun were both "uncomfortable" with her English single China Wine, even though it was a success and the brainchild of noted music producer Wyclef Jean. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG

By Feng Zengkun

SINGAPORE - City Harvest founder Kong Hee and his wife Ho Yeow Sun were both "uncomfortable" with her English single China Wine, even though it was a success and the brainchild of noted music producer Wyclef Jean. It did not fit the image Ms Ho wanted to have as a pop artiste, Kong said as he took the stand for the second day on Tuesday.

Kong, who faces three charges of criminal breach of trust for allegedly misusing church funds, outlined the plan to break Ms Ho into the United States music market as part of a church effort to evangelise using her pop music.

The United States began in 2003 after an American pastor suggested to Kong that Ms Ho's music would appeal to Americans. Wyclef Jean, a Haitian hip hop recording artist, was brought on in 2006 to help Ms Ho.

He suggested that Ms Ho scrap the songs that had already been recorded for her debut English album as they sounded "too white, Caucasian" and would not distinguish her from other singers attempting to make a mark in the United States, Kong said.

Instead, Wyclef Jean recommended that Ms Ho try a new "Asian-Reggae" fusion sound, which led to the making of China Wine. He had created a similar "Latino-Reggae" sound with pop star Shakira, leading to the massive hit Hips Don't Lie, Kong added.

Kong also stressed that even though Wyclef Jean's involvement in Ms Ho's album as well as other factors had led to higher costs, he had kept "rigorous" oversight of the numbers, including the projected revenue from album sales, concert tours, merchandising and more. It was to make sure the initial expense was worthwhile and would return a profit.

Kong showed through several e-mails between him and music producer Justin Herz, how he had probed Mr Herz's profit and loss projections, including suggesting that an "optimistic" projection of 2 million album units sold should be revised to 1.5 million copies. Wyclef Jean left the project in 2008 after negotiations over his asking price broke down.

 

[StarshipTroopers]

Updated: 08/14/2014 00:03 | By Channel NewsAsia

City Harvest Church interests always placed above Crossover Project: Kong

SINGAPORE: Taking the stand on Wednesday (Aug 13), City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee said he and his deputies had nothing to hide, and sought to show that they had always been transparent about the church's financial transactions to lawyers and auditors.

In 2008, Ren Ci Hospital's founder and former chief executive Shi Ming Yi was charged with misappropriating funds, among other things. Troubled by the scandal, Kong said he instructed the church's senior management to meet auditor Foong Daw Ching, in order to review its transactions and ensure they were above board.

Of particular concern was the church's investment in Xtron - the firm which managed the music career of Kong's wife, Sun Ho. Xtron is one of two church-linked firms alleged to have helped Kong and his deputies misuse church monies to fund Ms Ho's music career.

Kong told the court he wanted to be sure that the church was "in compliance with the law of the land, that we will not be found wanting for fraud, corruption or forgery ... I needed to satisfy myself that everything was done properly, everything was done above board".

Kong reiterated that Foong had full visibility of the church's financial transactions, and that it had nothing to hide. For example, Kong said Mr Foong knew that Xtron had been making losses. "If I have committed fraud, corruption and forgery, why would I want to see him? I would want to stay away from him," Kong said. "But I wanted my team to go and see him, to be open with him and let him advise us."

Kong said the church's plans - including those concerning the bond transactions - were also vetted by lawyers and auditors before they were proceeded with, and that he was determined that the church not suffer financial loss because it had invested money from its building fund into Xtron bonds.

Proceeds from the investment were used to support Ms Ho's album, which was part of the Crossover Project - the church's way of evangelising through secular pop music. Kong said he always prioritised the church's interests over his vision for the Crossover Project, even if it meant parting ways with well-known songwriter and producer Wyclef Jean, who Kong believed could have made Ms Ho's debut English-language album a success.

Kong said her success as a pop singer would have opened more doors for the church's missionary work. But Jean's high asking fee of between US$4.5 to US$5 million (S$5.6 to S$6.2 million), and increased marketing costs, made him concerned that Xtron would not be able to recover its investment.

"I did not think this was reasonable, and it caused the whole project to become unbalanced. I cannot subject Xtron to such a risk where they can't pay back the bonds and cause the church a loss," he said. - CNA/xy

 

[StarshipTroopers]

Kong defends City Harvest Church transactions

Published on Aug 13, 2014 6:43 PM

City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee said on Wednesday that he had nothing to hide about a series of transactions which prosecutors claim were shams made to enable the misuse of church funds. -- ST PHOTO: CHEW SENG KIM

By Feng Zengkun

Singapore - City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee said on Wednesday that he had nothing to hide about a series of transactions which prosecutors claim were shams made to enable the misuse of church funds.

His lawyer Edwin Tong showed him a series of emails and Blackberry messages in which he had given instructions for lawyers and auditors to be consulted about various transactions.

Kong said the correspondence showed he and other defendants had been transparent about their plans and sought to make sure the deals were above board.

Among the auditors consulted was Mr Foong Daw Ching, former managing director of the church's auditing firm Baker Tilly TFW.

Kong said of several meetings that were set up with Mr Foong: "If I had committed fraud, why would I want to see him? I would want to stay away from him."

Kong and five others face various charges for their part in allegedly misusing $50 million of church funds to boost his wife Ho Yeow Sun's music career, and then to cover up the deed.

Part of the money was borrowed to finance Ms Ho's debut American album, which the defence said was part of a church-approved plan to evangelise.

Kong said earlier in the day that he would put the church's interest before his wife's music career. Earlier in the week he had said he replaced noted producers on the album like Grammy-winning artiste Wyclef Jean to keep the album budget reasonable.

He also said that although he would have preferred to keep the church's support of her career discreet, he would have disclosed it in legal documents if required by law.

While he was not asked why he would want to keep the support discreet, another defendant, former church board member John Lam Leng Hung, had said the board knew that for Ms Ho's music career to be successful, "she must be recognised as a real success, meaning it is a success that has to happen without... direct support from the church".

The trial continues.