City Harvest Church founder faces the music

[Awake]

City Harvest trial: Six accused arrive in court

Published on Aug 26, 2013
By David Ee

Kong Hee, founder of City Harvest Church, arrives at the Subordinate Courts with wife Ho Yeow Sun on Monday, Aug 26, 2013. He and five other leaders of the church are accused of embezzling more than $50 million from their parish to fund the secular pop music career of his wife, Ms Ho Yeow Sun, also known as Sun Ho. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

City Harvest church founder Kong Hee entered the Subordinate Courts on Monday morning hand in hand with pop-singer wife Ho Yeow Sun, on the first day of the resumed trial into his and five other church leaders' alleged multi-million dollar misuse of church funds.

They arrived at about 9.20am, accompanied by two people. Kong was smiling broadly as he entered the courthouse.

The earliest of the six accused to arrive were former church board member Chew Eng Han and the former secretary of its management board John Lam.

The church's former finance manager Serina Wee arrived at 9am, closely followed by its senior pastor and founding member Tan Ye Peng. Its current finance manager Sharon Tan showed up minutes later.

Few church members lingered outside the courthouse this time around to show their support. Those who had queued for seats in the courtroom public gallery trickled in in small groups.

Church members had begun queuing from as early as 4am for seats.

 

[Awake]

City Harvest trial: First witness called is Xtron director and long-time church member

Published on Aug 26, 2013
By Feng Zengkun

The high-profile criminal trial involving City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee and five of his deputies resumed on Monday with its fourth witness, Mr Choong Kar Weng.

Mr Choong is the current director of Xtron Productions, a music production house and one of two companies that allegedly helped to funnel church funds to bankroll Kong's pastor-singer wife Ho Yeow Sun's singing career. He became Xtron director in 2005.

Mr Choong, a Malaysian citizen and Singapore PR, said he was invited to take up the Xtron directorship by Kong, even though the megachurch founder did not hold any appointments in the company.

"Ultimately the directors and shareholders of Xtron had to approve my directorship, but Xtron and City Harvest were working very closely at the time to pursue a piece of land, so I assumed it was quite normal for them to discuss these matters," he said.

Mr Choong added that he joined the church in 1995 and was its board member for about five years from 1999 to 2004. He is now also a director of company Attributes, which handles the City Harvest Church's bookstore.

Kong and the five other church leaders were charged last year with conspiring to cheat the megachurch of millions of dollars. They allegedly misused $24 million of church funds to bankroll Ms Ho's singing ambitions, and purportedly took another $26 million to cover up the first amount.

 

[Awake]

Xtron was controlled by City Harvest, prosecutors sought to show

Published on Aug 26, 2013
By Feng Zengkun

City Harvest Church leaders were involved in major decisions such as budgets and staff employment at Xtron Productions, a music production company accused of helping the church to misuse church funds, the state sought to show on Monday.

When questioned on the witness stand, Xtron director Choong Kar Weng also admitted that the company did not seek to profit from its City Harvest business although this made up the majority of its income.

Xtron is one of two companies alleged to have helped the megachurch to funnel church funds to bankroll the music career of pastor-singer Ho Yeow Sun, who is also wife of the church's founder Kong Hee.

The state showed through emails and meeting minutes prepared by Xtron employees, that City Harvest employees were consulted on the company's matters even though they were not on its payroll. In some cases their approval was also sought. These church employees included Tan Ye Peng, one of the six accused.

Claiming that he was seeing many of these minutes and emails for the first time, Mr Choong also said that the day-to-day operations were handled by Mr Suraj, a church employee whom he called a "good friend". Asked whether this represented a conflict of interest for the company, Mr Choong said: "I trust Suraj and believe he would not have done anything harmful and detrimental to Xtron."

Kong and the five other church leaders were charged last year with conspiring to cheat the megachurch of millions of dollars. They allegedly misused $24 million of church funds to bankroll Ms Ho's singing ambitions, and purportedly took another $26 million to cover up the first amount.

 

[Awake]

City Harvest Church trial: Singer Ho Yeow Sun received over $500,000 in bonuses, advances

City Harvest founder Kong Hee and wife Ho Yeow Sun showed up in court hand-in-hand for yesterday's proceedings. The bonuses Ho allegedly received include a $30,000 birthday cash gift and an $80,000 "special performance bonus for hits in the US or the United Kingdom" in 2006.

Melody Zaccheus
The Straits Times
Tuesday, Aug 27, 2013

SINGAPORE - But to divert attention from some of these extra takings, leaders of City Harvest Church allegedly doctored documents to show that sponsors had given the money to her as "personal gifts".

Accused Serina Wee handled Xtron's accounts as church employee

Serina Wee was handling music firm Xtron Productions' accounts and finances even when she was an employee of City Harvest Church, the state sought to show on Tuesday.

First witness called is Xtron director and long-time church member

Mr Choong Kar Weng, a Malaysian citizen and Singapore PR, said he was invited to take up the Xtron directorship by Kong, even though the megachurch founder did not hold any appointments in the company.

6 accused arrive in court

City Harvest church founder Kong Hee entered the Subordinate Courts on Monday morning hand in hand with pop-singer wife Ho Yeow Sun, on the first day of the resumed trial into his and five other church leaders' alleged multi-million dollar misuse of church funds.

Early morning queue outside Sub Courts for City Harvest trial

By 7am on Monday, a steadily growing queue of more than 50 people had formed. The earliest of the arrivals had come at about 4am. They stood or sat quietly in groups of two and three, some reading up on previous media reports.

 

[Awake]

Singer Ho Yeow Sun received over $500,000 in bonuses, advances

Published on Aug 27, 2013

City Harvest founder Kong Hee and wife Ho Yeow Sun showed up in court hand-in-hand for yesterday's proceedings. -- ST PHOTO: MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN

By Melody Zaccheus

Pop singer Ho Yeow Sun received more than half a million in bonuses and advances, including a $30,000 birthday cash gift and an $80,000 "special performance bonus for hits in the US or the United Kingdom" in 2006.

But to divert attention from some of these extra takings, leaders of City Harvest Church allegedly doctored documents to show that sponsors had given the money to her as "personal gifts".

These details emerged on the first day of the second leg of the trial involving six church leaders accused of misusing millions of church funds. The high-profile trial had resumed after a three- month break.

Yesterday, prosecutors tried to show that Ms Ho's former management company, Xtron Productions, was a puppet company controlled by the church's leadership, including founder Kong Hee, who is her husband.

The State is accusing the six of using Xtron and another firm, Firna, to funnel $24 million of church funds into paying for Ms Ho's secular pop music career, and then misappropriating another $26 million to cover that up.

Like at the first part of the trial in May, supporters started lining up outside the Subordinate Courts from as early as 4am for a spot in the 80-seater public gallery in Court 3.

A solemn Ms Ho showed up in court, hand-in-hand with her smiling husband for the first half of the day's proceedings.

One of the accused, Chew Eng Han, a church stalwart and its investment manager who had quit in June, kept his distance from the rest. He did not speak to the other five in the dock, and stood aside from them during breaks.

The trial continues today and prosecution witness Choong Kar Weng, Xtron's director and long- time church member, is expected to take the stand again.

[email protected]

 

[Awake]

City Harvest trial: Accused Serina Wee handled Xtron's accounts as church employee

Published on Aug 27, 2013

Serina Wee, a leader of City Harvest Church, leaves the court during lunch break on Aug 26, 2013. Wee was handling music firm Xtron Productions' accounts and finances even when she was an employee of City Harvest Church, the state sought to show on Tuesday. -- ST FILE PHOTO: MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN

By Feng Zengkun

Serina Wee was handling music firm Xtron Productions' accounts and finances even when she was an employee of City Harvest Church, the state sought to show on Tuesday.

In fact, she was a church employee when she was involved in the plan for Xtron to issue bonds that are at the centre of the criminal trial against the church's leaders.

Questioning Xtron director Choong Kar Weng on the witness stand, the state noted that Wee was a church employee and was not on Xtron's payroll when she was involved in the company's discussions to issue the bonds.

Mr Choong said he had final say over the plan, and added: "Whether people are under payroll or not, I make a decision about who I trust. Serina was not officially Xtron's accountant but she was doing the accounts for Xtron. I really trusted her."

City Harvest founder Kong Hee and five of his deputies including Wee were charged last year with conspiring to cheat the church of millions of dollars. They allegedly misused $24 million of church funds to bankroll the music career of Kong's pop-singer wife Ho Yeow Sun, and then purportedly took another $26 million to cover up the first amount.

This was done by funnelling the church funds through two companies including Xtron, which managed Ms Ho between 2003 and 2008. As part of the misuse of funds, the companies issued bonds which the church invested in, the state said.

 

[Awake]

City Harvest trial: Emails stated that 'Xtron is under CHC's control'

Published on Aug 27, 2013

Combination photo of Tan Ye Peng (left) and Chew Eng Han, who are among those accused of misusing City Harvest church funds. Prosecutors strengthened their case about the ties between City Harvest and Xtron Productions on Tuesday by producing emails between Tan, Chew and Xtron accountant Serina Wee that expressedly stated Xtron was under the church's control. -- ST FILE PHOTOS: WONG KWAI CHOW

By Feng Zengkun

Prosecutors strengthened their case about the intimate ties between City Harvest Church and music firm Xtron Productions on Tuesday by producing emails that expressedly stated Xtron was under the church's control.

In a series of emails between Xtron accountant Serina Wee and two church leaders Chew Eng Han and Tan Ye Peng, all of whom are accused of the misuse of church funds, Chew said: "Xtron is under our control."

Tan then replied: "Are we allowed to say that Xtron is under CHC (City Harvest Church) control?" to which Chew said: "Not in such bold terms, but we should let our members have the assurance that Xtron's gains are in line with CHC's vision."

The emails were produced in relation to a property Xtron purchased with financial help from the church. The State also noted that Wee did not object in the emails to the statement that Xtron was under the church's control.

Questioned on the witness stand, Xtron director Choong Kar Weng said of the emails: "I don't regard the statement (about CHC controlling Xtron) to be correct." Lawyers for the accused also strenuously objected to Mr Choong being asked about the emails since he was not copied in them.

Xtron is one of two companies accused of helping City Harvest to illegally misuse church funds to bankroll the music career of pastor-singer Ho Yeow Sun, who is also wife of the megachurch's founder Kong Hee.

Kong and five of his deputies including Wee, Chew and Tan were charged last year with conspiring to cheat the church of millions of dollars. They allegedly misused $24 million of church funds to bankroll Ho's music career, and then purportedly took another $26 million to cover up the first amount.

 

[Awake]

 

[Awake]

City Harvest trial: Xtron and church allegedly conspired to cover up misuse of church funds

Published on Aug 27, 2013

Music firm Xtron Productions and City Harvest Church conspired to cover up the misuse of church funds, the State sought to show on Tuesday, Aug 27, 2013, as it continued to question Xtron director Choong Kar Weng (above) for a second day. -- ST PHOTO: MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN

By Feng Zengkun

Music firm Xtron Productions and City Harvest Church conspired to cover up the misuse of church funds, the State sought to show on Tuesday as it continued to question Xtron director Choong Kar Weng for a second day.

The firm is one of two companies accused of helping the megachurch's leaders to funnel church funds illegally to bankroll pastor-singer Ho Yeow Sun's music career. Xtron managed Ms Ho from 2003 to 2008.

The State questioned Mr Choong on a series of Xtron financial transactions in 2009 that they believe was part of the cover-up. Then, the church had given Xtron about $15 million as part of an eight-year rental agreement. Less than a month later, Xtron invested about $11.5 million in bonds issued by Firna, the other company accused of helping with the cover-up.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Christopher Ong pointed out to Mr Choong that several months after the church gave Xtron the rental fee, it bought a stake in Suntec City which made the rental agreement redundant. Xtron also should have used the rental fee to fulfil its side of the agreement instead of investing in Firna's bonds, Mr Ong said.

When asked, Mr Choong said he was not aware of City Harvest's impending purchase of the Suntec property, and added that the Firna bond purchase was a good investment as it would have reaped interest. "If I needed to show proof of funds (for other deals), I could have mortgaged the bonds, for example," he said.

He admitted under questioning, however, that the suggestion to invest in the Firna bonds had come from Chew Eng Han, one of the accused.

Mr Choong is expected to continue testifying on Wednesday. The next witness is slated to be Indonesian businessman Wahju Hanafi, a former Xtron director.

City Harvest founder Kong Hee, who is Ms Ho's husband, and five of his deputies were charged last year with conspiring to cheat the church of millions of dollars. They allegedly misused $24 million of church funds to finance Ms Ho's singing ambitions and then purportedly took another $26 million to cover up the first amount.

 

[Awake]

CHC leaders aware of possible CBT charge over Xtron dealings

By Claire Huang
POSTED: 28 Aug 2013 12:11 AM

Director of Xtron Productions, Choong Kar Weng, outside the court.

SINGAPORE: On the second day of the City Harvest trial, the prosecution said the church leaders were aware of the prospect of committing criminal breach of trust (CBT) over the Xtron dealings.

On Tuesday, the court heard Choong Kar Weng, director of Xtron Productions, had asked City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee in an email if there would be a case of CBT over their dealings.

The court heard how Mr Choong raised his concerns in an email dated March 31, 2010, citing the complicated relationship between the two entities.

In the email, Mr Choong laid out the links between Xtron, the church and the church's investment company AMAC over the years.

Xtron is the former management company of singer Sun Ho, who is also Kong Hee's wife. It is allegedly one of three firms used by the six CHC leaders to commit their offences.

Mr Choong said from 2007 to 2009, the relationship between Xtron and the church was one of lessor and lessee but things got complicated after that.

He went on to say how "the close proximity between Xtron and CHC" will lead some people to "draw the inference that Xtron is financing Sun Ho's albums".

Mr Choong then went on to paint the "worst case scenario". He asked if there would be criminal breach of trust if authorities were to look at the parties as one entity.

However, Mr Choong said he did not think anyone is guilty of the offence because the way the church's funds were used was "all within the powers of the Management Board".

Still, the long-time church member cautioned that if some members refuse to accept "any explanation" and "bring a civil action against Pastor (Kong Hee) and the Management Board", it will be very public.

Mr Choong's bottomline was that it was important to prove that the church "is not disadvantaged throughout all these transactions".

As at end March 2010, the total losses incurred from producing singer Sun Ho's album was S$18.6 million.

Xtron accumulated losses totalling some S$14 million.

In the email, Mr Choong pointed out that there was a need "to fill up Xtron's losses and to determine the fate of Xtron".

He singled out Tan Ye Peng and Chew Eng Han, both of whom are also on trial, as having "come up with a plan to wipe out Xtron's losses for the album project (Ho's album), as well as repay the church's advance rental".

Earlier in the day, the prosecution alleged that accused Serina Wee, Chew Eng Han and Tan Ye Peng took pains to plan and hide information from church members.

Mr Choong also testified that he trusted Serina Wee and believed she would not make decisions detrimental to his company.

Kong Hee, John Lam, Chew Eng Han, Tan Ye Peng and Serina Wee allegedly misused S$24 million of church building funds by channelling the money into two companies, Xtron and PT the First National Glassware (Firna), in what has been described as "sham bond investments". This allegedly took place between January 2007 and October 2008.

A second set of charges involves Chew Eng Han, Tan Ye Peng, Serina Wee and Sharon Tan, who are said to have misappropriated some S$26 million to cover up the first sum.

The funds were allegedly used to boost the music career of Sun Ho.

- CNA/fa

 

[Awake]

By Channel NewsAsia, Updated: 27/08/2013

CHC leaders alleged to have hidden info on Xtron from members

SINGAPORE: Prosecutors on Tuesday said three of the City Harvest Church leaders, who are on trial for the misuse of church funds, have taken pains to plan and hide information from church members.

The prosecution tried to draw at from the documents raised in court on Tuesday.

The three accused - Serina Wee, Tan Ye Peng and Chew Eng Han, were in cahoots in trying to find a way to deflect questions on Xtron Productions and the church.

In an email to Tan and Chew dated March 30, 2010, Wee, who is also Xtron's accountant, stressed the need to come up with explanations.

The email came after questions were posed by a church member.

That email was then sent to church founder, Kong Hee, who is also on trial.

In it, Wee raised concerns about how people would find out about a S$10 million bank loan Xtron took, even after the church had loaned the company S$21.5 million in bonds.

The loan from the church was meant for Xtron to buy a unit at RiverWalk.

Wee stressed in the email the need to sell off the RiverWalk unit as soon as possible, so they can "reduce the share capital of Xtron from S$6 million to S$6".

She said this was to ensure there won't be a query as to where the shareholders got the capital from.

"We need to scrutinise XPL (Xtron Productions) financial statements to prepare for any questions on its expenses, liabilities and ability to meet the rental payments," said Wee in the email.

The prosecution also made the point that the three accused made it seem like the church had full control of Xtron, which wasn't the case.

In court, Xtron Director Choong Kar Weng testified that he trusted Wee and believed that she would not make decisions detrimental to his company.

Xtron, the former management company of singer Sun Ho, who is also Kong Hee's wife, is allegedly one of three firms used by the six accused to commit their offences.

Kong Hee, John Lam, Chew Eng Han, Tan Ye Peng and Serina Wee allegedly misused S$24 million of church building funds by channelling the money into two companies, Xtron and PT the First National Glassware (Firna), in what has been described as "sham bond investments".

This allegedly took place between January 2007 and October 2008.

A second set of charges involve Chew Eng Han, Tan Ye Peng, Serina Wee and Sharon Tan, who are said to have misappropriated some S$26 million to cover up the first sum.

The funds were allegedly used to boost the music career of Kong's wife, Sun Ho.

- CNA/fa

 

[Awake]

Updated: 08/28/2013 12:14 | By Channel NewsAsia

Defence seeks to refute allegations in City Harvest leaders' trial

SINGAPORE: The defence of the six City Harvest Church leaders on Wednesday sought to refute allegations that Xtron Productions was controlled by the church.

At the start of the cross-examination of Xtron's director, Choong Kar Weng, defence counsel Kenneth Tan tried to make the point that even though his client, John Lam, was involved in email discussions about Xtron, execution of any suggestion ultimately lies with the Xtron director.

Mr Choong, who is taking the stand for the third day, agreed.

The prosecution witness also testified that John Lam was not involved in managing Xtron.

This comes after the prosecution alleged that Mr Choong was a rubber stamp and that the church was the one controlling his firm.

On Tuesday, the prosecution charged that the accused Serina Wee, Chew Eng Han and Tan Ye Peng took pains to plan and hide information from church members.

Xtron is the former management company of singer Sun Ho, who is also church founder Kong Hee's wife.

The events firm is allegedly one of three companies used by the six accused to commit their offences.

On Wednesday, when questioned by lawyer Edwin Tong, who represents Kong Hee, Mr Choong said the church's board management knew that Xtron was managing Ms Ho's career as well as the Crossover Project.

The Crossover Project is meant to reach out to the secular world through pop music.

The court heard how the church and Xtron were trying to further Ms Ho's career in the United States.

Emails dated as early as 2006 between Justin Herz, owner of a music production house in California, Kong Hee and Tan Ye Peng showed that they were trying to manage the budget.

Mr Herz and a Ms Lisa Ellis also projected that Ms Ho's album sales would be about two million.

But the court was told previously that accused Serina Wee indicated Ms Ho's album only sold 200,000 copies.

In fact, Mr Herz and Ms Ellis said in their projections that revenue would exceed the S$13 million bonds that Xtron had issued.

The Xtron bonds were to raise funds for Ms Ho's music.

Kong Hee, along with five others, faces varying counts of misusing millions of church building funds.

The prosecution's case is that they channelled the money into two companies - Xtron and PT the First National Glassware (Firna) - through "sham bond investments".

The funds were said to have been used to boost the music career of Ms Ho. - CNA/xq

 

[Awake]

City Harvest Church trial: Leaders accused of hiding ties with Xtron

E-mail shows 3 were in cahoots to deflect members' queries

Published on Aug 28, 2013

Serina Wee, Chew Eng Han and Tan Ye Peng were allegedly worried about how to present the close connection between the church and Xtron to the church's auditors and members. -- ST PHOTOS: WONG KWAI CHOW

By Feng Zengkun
City Harvest Church leaders accused of misusing the church's funds told auditors one thing and their parishioners another.

Yesterday, the State tried to prove this by producing a series of e-mail messages to show that three of the accused - Serina Wee, who was Xtron's accountant, Chew Eng Han and Tan Ye Peng - were in cahoots to hide details and deflect questions about the church's connection with Xtron, even from the church's own members.

One set in 2008 had to do with the church paying exorbitant rent for a Riverwalk property from the company. "I feel it's hard to justify to the members why CHC (City Harvest Church) needs to lose $480,000 a year from the arrangement," said Wee.

This amount was meant to help Xtron pay off a bank loan instalment which members did not know about, Wee said in her e-mail.

Wee, Chew and Tan were also worried about how to present the two entities' close connection to the church's auditors and members.

"If anyone asks about the profits made (by Xtron from the Riverwalk rental during the City Harvest Church board meeting), then we should address it and say that Xtron is under CHC control and therefore any profits will be well managed by us for future works," wrote Chew.

Tan then replied: "Are we allowed to say that Xtron is under CHC control?" To which Chew replied: "Not in such bold terms, but we should let our members have assurance that Xtron's gains will be channelled into projects in line with the CHC vision."

He added: "The only problem of using the word 'control' is that if it gets to the auditors, they may get ultra-conservative and say we own Xtron, and therefore we need to consolidate (the two). So we need to find a balance between what we tell our AGM - annual general meeting - (they want full control) and what we tell auditors (we don't want them to think we control Xtron)."

In another set of e-mail messages in 2008, Wee also told church founder Kong Hee, Tan and Chew that she had received advice from a fellow church member: "We can talk about Xtron to the members in the (extraordinary general meeting) but don't minute down everything. Just minute down necessary portions so as to not show too close a relationship or control over Xtron."

Xtron is one of two companies accused of helping the megachurch's leaders to funnel church funds illegally to bankroll pastor-singer Ho Yeow Sun's music career. It managed Ms Ho from 2003 to 2008.

Kong, who is Ms Ho's husband, and five of his deputies were charged last year with conspiring to cheat the church of millions of dollars. They allegedly misused $24 million of church funds to finance Ms Ho's singing ambitions, and then purportedly took another $26 million to cover up the first amount.

Yesterday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Christopher Ong also highlighted several Xtron financial transactions in 2009 that he suggested were part of a cover-up of the misuse of church funds.

In November that year, the church had given Xtron about $15 million as part of an eight-year rental agreement. Less than a month later, Xtron invested about $11.5 million in bonds issued by Firna, the other firm accused of helping with the cover- up.

DPP Ong pointed out that just months after the church gave Xtron the rental fee, it bought a stake in Suntec City. This made the rental agreement redundant and it was terminated shortly afterward.

Xtron also should have used the rental fee to fulfil its side of the agreement instead of investing in Firna's bonds, Mr Ong said.

When asked, Xtron director Choong Kar Weng said he was not aware of City Harvest's impending purchase of the Suntec property, and added that the Firna bond purchase was a good investment as it would have reaped interest. "If I needed to show proof of funds (for other deals), I could have mortgaged the bonds, for example," he said.

He admitted under questioning, however, that the suggestion to invest in the Firna bonds had come from Chew Eng Han, one of the accused, and was furthermore part of a larger plan to satisfy the church's auditors who had grown "uncomfortable" with bonds it had purchased.

"Eng Han drew a diagram... The Firna bonds were part of the diagram. To me, the overall purpose was because the auditors of CHC were not comfortable with the bonds, that's why there was a need to restructure the bonds and the debt."

[email protected]

 

[Awake]

Updated: 08/29/2013 23:04 | By Channel NewsAsia

Xtron and church transparent with auditors: Choong Kar Weng

SINGAPORE: The trial of the six City Harvest Church leaders continued on Thursday, with defence lawyers seeking to show that both Xtron Productions and the church were transparent with their auditors.

Xtron director Choong Kar Weng took the stand for a fourth day. He said that both Xtron and City Harvest Church used the same auditors as there was nothing to hide.

He added that this made it transparent that church building funds were being invested in Xtron -- which used the money for the music career of Sun Ho, wife of church founder Kong Hee.

Ms Ho was managed by Xtron from 2003 to 2008.

Mr Choong said that no supporters of the Crossover Project would ever want the church to bear losses. The Crossover Project is an effort to reach out to non-Christians through Ms Ho's secular music.

Senior Counsel Andre Maniam -- the lawyer for Sharon Tan, one of the accused -- argued that law firm Rajah & Tann had acted for Xtron in several transactions. These include its purchase of Riverwalk, its advance rental licence agreement with the church, and for its purchase of bonds issued by glass company Firna.

He said this meant that it understood what one transaction meant for another.

He also reiterated that he did not think any criminal breach of trust had been committed, after the prosecution produced a March 2010 email by Mr Choong to Kong that raised the idea of criminal breach of trust in the church's transactions with other entities.

Mr Choong went on to write that he did not think any Criminal Breach of Trust had been committed. When asked by Mr Maniam if he still held this view today, Mr Choong said 'yes'. - CNA/ac

 

[Awake]

City Harvest trial: external lawyers found nothing wrong with accounts, said defence

Published on Aug 29, 2013

Pastor Kong Hee (right), founder of City Harvest Church with his wife Ms Ho Yeow Sun, also known as Sun Ho outside Subordinate Courts. City Harvest Church members had overwhelmingly supported its co-founder Ho Yeow Sun's music career as a way to evangelise, and external lawyers had found nothing wrong with various allegedly suspect financial transactions. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND LIM

By Feng Zengkun

City Harvest Church members had overwhelmingly supported its co-founder Ho Yeow Sun's music career as a way to evangelise, and external lawyers had found nothing wrong with various allegedly suspect financial transactions.

That was the defence put up on Thursday by lawyers for six church leaders accused of the misuse of church funds.

The state believes the money was channelled into Ms Ho's career in 2007 and 2008 through sham bonds issued by two companies run by church members, glassware manufaturer Firna and music firm Xtron Productions, which managed Ms Ho's career from 2003 to 2008. But defence lawyers said that church members had long supported Ms Ho's music ambitions as a way to evangelise and voted to approve it in board meetings.

In 2010, several years after the church invested in the bonds and months after the authorities raided the church's offices, church members had also "overwhelmingly" voted to retroactively approve the bond purchases, Xtron director and church member Choong Kar Weng added when questioned by defence lawyers.

Mr N Sreenivasan, lawyer for accused church leader Tan Ye Peng, also noted that external lawyers for Xtron had found nothing wrong with these and other allegedly suspect transactions at the time they were carried out. He put it to Mr Choong: "Did the lawyers warn you that (the bond investments) was an improper use of the CHC (City Harvest Church) fund?", to which Mr Choong replied: "Not that I know of."

City Harvest founder Kong Hee and five of his deputies were charged last year with misappropriating about $24 million to finance Ms Ho's career and purportedly took another $26 million to cover the first amount up. The money was allegedly taken from the church's building funds meant for the land purchases, rental, furniture and construction.

 

[lianbeng]

lianbeng says: face the music? yup, there're going to turn the entire Changi Prison into a Praise n Worship Service liao! "Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!..."

 

[Awake]

Updated: 08/30/2013 17:00 | By Channel NewsAsia

CHC trustees gave investment firm power to negotiate, sign agreements: Jeffrey Cheong

SINGAPORE: A trustee of City Harvest Church, whose role was to manage its assets, told the court on Friday that he had not been involved in the negotiations that related to the investment documents he signed off on.

Mr Jeffrey Cheong, who is a founding member of the church and one of the church's three trustees, said this was because they had given investment firm -- AMAC Capital -- the power to negotiate and sign agreements on their behalf.

Mr Cheong is the second witness to take the stand in the second tranche of the high-profile trial involving six leaders of City Harvest Church.

The six are accused of conspiring to channel S$24 million into two companies using "sham bond investments" to fund the music career of Sun Ho, the wife of church founder Kong Hee.

Another S$26 million was allegedly used to cover up the first amount.

In court on Friday, Mr Cheong acknowledged that he was no expert in managing investments, and said he was briefed either by church employees or lawyers on documents when he signed off on them.

However, when shown some of the documents relating to the church's transactions, he was unable to recall exactly what he had been briefed about.

In one instance, a S$13-million bond subscription agreement involving Xtron Productions -- the company that had managed the music career of Ms Ho between 2003 and 2008 -- the bonds had already been drawn down at the time he signed the documents.

When asked if he knew of this at the time he signed them, he said he could not remember.

Mr Cheong was also shown some documents relating to the church's transactions, which he said he had not seen before.

These included a letter from John Lam -- one of the accused -- to the owners of glassware manufacturer Firna. The church had agreed to invest millions in Firna bonds, and be allowed to convert the bonds into shares in the company.

If that was carried out, the church would sell the shares back to Firna at US$1.

It was also pointed out that some investment decisions that had been made by the church's management board, and which the trustees had signed off on, had not been made known to the church's executive members during general meetings. - CNA/ac

 

[Awake]

Updated: 08/30/2013 23:10 | By Channel NewsAsia

Former Xtron director testifies about close relationship with CHC founder

SINGAPORE: At the continuing trial of six City Harvest Church leaders on Friday, details of the close relationship between church founder Kong Hee and a former director of Xtron emerged.

Indonesia businessman Wahju Hanafi was a director of production company Xtron between 2003 and 2007. Xtron is one of two companies accused of helping the church leaders misuse church funds to promote the singing career of Kong's wife, Sun Ho.

Mr Hanafi also owns the second company that has been named in the case.

A long-time member of the church, Mr Hanafi said that its teachings had changed him as a person. It led him to pay back more than S$1 million in evaded taxes. After he paid up the taxes, he said his business made a S$10 million profit. Later in 1998, he made a S$1 million donation to the church.

It was after this donation that Kong invited Mr Hanafi to dinner to thank him, and the pair became closer.

The court also heard that that the two men, Kong and Mr Hanafi, co-own a Sentosa Cove property, in which each of them have been paying a monthly instalment of S$17,000 each since 2008.

Although Mr Hanafi was a director of Xtron, he said his main role was as a sponsor for the company. He said he gave between S$1 million and S$1.5 million to Xtron instead of to the church for the Crossover Project.

The Crossover Project is an effort to reach out to non-Christians through Ms Ho's secular music.

Mr Hanafi said that Xtron started to need more money to finance the Crossover project after he decided to step down as director, to focus on his other company Firna.

He said this following questions from the prosecution about the issuing of the S$13 million bonds. He said this was because at the time, the company was preparing to launch Ms Ho's music in the US as a way for her to make inroads into the Chinese market.

Mr Hanafi said that later, when Ms Ho was invited to stage concerts in various parts of China, each concert would require a lot of money to be raised.

Mr Hanafi was also asked by the prosecution to detail his personal relationships with the other accused leaders. He said he was close to John Lam, who had been his cell-group leader when he first joined the church. - CNA/ac

 

[Awake]

Kong 'had concerns' about bonds and transactions

Kong Hee (second from left) leaving the court with his lawyers.

Feng Zengkun, Melody Zaccheus
The Straits Times
Friday, Aug 30, 2013

SINGAPORE - City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee once worried about the legality of bonds the church had purchased.

Prosecution witness and Xtron Productions director Choong Kar Weng told the court this on Tuesday, after prosecutors produced an e-mail he had sent Kong, and questioned him over it.

"At the end of March 2010, I received a phone call from Pastor Kong saying he's concerned with all the bonds and all the transactions. So he asked me to check and see whether things were OK," said Mr Choong.

The music production firm is one of two companies accused of helping the six accused to misappropriate church funds to bankroll the music career of pastor-singer Ho Yeow Sun, who is also Kong's wife.

The prosecution believes this was done through sham bonds issued by the two firms which the church invested in, and has been trying to prove that Xtron was nothing but a puppet company doing the church's bidding.

Xtron, however, has maintained it was independent and financially viable.

Mr Choong, the first witness in the second tranche of the high-profile criminal trial, said he dug up more information about the church's dealings after the phone call.

He then wrote the e-mail to Kong on March 31, 2010, saying that in the worst case, the authorities could view the parties involved in the Xtron bonds - City Harvest, Xtron and AMAC Capital Partners, the church's investment manager - as related, and he discussed the possibility of the transactions becoming criminal breach of trust.

"Selling bonds to raise money is not uncommon in business... However, given the close proximity between Xtron and CHC, some people will draw the inference that Xtron is financing (Ms Ho's) albums," he added.

They can get around that problem by saying there was a sponsor for the albums, and Xtron was simply appointed to produce the albums, said Mr Choong in his e-mail to Kong. "This may still be a ground for suspicion but it is very difficult to prove. So legally, I am convinced we are OK here."

 

[Awake]

CHC trial: How $28.6m was spent on Sun Ho's music career

Koh Hui Theng
The New Paper
Friday, Aug 30, 2013

SINGAPORE - She's the $10 million woman.

That was the budget set aside to produce and market an English album in the US for City Harvest Church (CHC) founder Kong Hee's wife, Ho Yeow Sun.

Also known as Sun Ho, she was the face of the Crossover Project, a church mission that was started in 2002 to reach out to non-Christians through music.

But not every cent went into the music.

Nearly $700,000 was pencilled in as Kong's airfare, under the entry "increase in travelling expenses".

The document was among the evidence submitted to the courts.

Kong and five others are on trial for allegedly misusing more than $50 million of church funds - $24 million to fund Ms Ho's career and another $26.6 million to cover the tracks of the first amount.

The second leg of the trial started on Monday.

The prosecution is querying the movement of funds between CHC and different parties like Xtron, Ms Ho's former management company.