 |
|
|
INTERNET
SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Harvest_Church_Corruption_Case
The City Harvest Church Corruption
Case is the biggest corruption case in Singapore
since the beginning of the 21st century, revolving around City Harvest Church and several founders
especially Kong Hee. The total amount of funds mis-use is around S$50 million.
Misuse
of City Harvest Church funds
On
31 May 2010, the Office of the Commissioner of Charities (COC) and the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD)
of the Singapore Police announced that 17 individuals linked to the City
Harvest Church, including church founder Pastor Kong Hee and his deputy, Pastor
Tan Ye Peng, were under investigation after complaints alleging the misuse of
church funds. The joint press statement stressed that the investigations are
neither linked nor initiated from its acquisition of a stake in the Suntec Convention Centre The police also
visited the offices and homes of these individuals and brought back computers
and financial records for investigations. The police were looking into some
financial transactions among these individuals and related companies, involving
the possible falsification of accounts and criminal breach of trust amounting
to millions of dollars which dated back a number of years. The authorities said
that regular church activities and services for the congregation need not be
disrupted during ongoing investigations, which was expected then to take several
months.
The
investigation followed requests by church members for the COC to review the
church's constitution, which denied ordinary members the chance to attend
general meetings, or be privy to its annual reports and financial statements.
Some members felt that the church board had utilised the church's building fund
and committed it to "future liabilities" without consulting members
at its latest AGM.
S$50
million, 6 arrests
In
June 2012, Kong Hee and four other members of the church were arrested by the Commercial Affairs Department of the Singapore Police Force. Charges were filed
against the five individuals and not the church itself, which would be allowed
to continue its services and activities. They were released on $500,000 bail
each. In July, charges were brought on one additional former finance director
with the last of the pre-trial conferences is set for 22 November. When the
trial started on 15 May 2012, some Christians expressed concern that the slow
pace of the trial may have a negative impact on public opinion.
On
the same day as the initial arrests, the COC released a press statement
detailing the results of its inquiry stating there were misconduct and
mismanagement in the administration of the charity. There were irregularities
of at least $23 million in the charity's funds, which were used to finance Sun
Ho's secular music career. There was also a concerted effort to conceal this
movement of funds from stakeholders. Eight members including the five arrested
such as Chew Eng Han and Sharon Tan, Sun Ho and two
others were suspended from their duties with the charity while the COC
considered further course of action under the Charities Act. $24 million was taken from church
building funds and put into sham investment bonds in Ho's artist management
firm Xtron Productions and glass maker Firna. After church auditors raised
questions about the bond investments, an additional $26.6 million was moved
around to "create the false appearance that the purported sham bond
investments had been redeemed" in what the accounting industry calls
"round-tripping". The church stood by the five accused, stated that
money for the investment bonds were returned to the church in full, with
interest, and it did not lose any funds in the transactions, indicating that
the accused "always put God and CHC first. "
Relevations
were made about a multi-purpose account (MPA) involving Kong Hee and his wife
Sun Ho set up in 2006 and closed in 2010, made up of "love gifts"
worth $2,888,334 from church members as well as $359,530 from an Indonesian
businessman Wahju Hanafi. The Commissioner
of Charities warned the church and its employees against raising funds for
legal expenses, the church was also restricted from paying the legal fees of
the 6 accused. The chief prosecution led by Mavis Chionh noted the absence
of a crucial board meeting between August and September 2008 as being without
any meeting minutes, and also charged that Wahju Hanafi was the other
beneficiary of funds allegedly diverted from City Harvest Church to further Sun
Ho's music career.
 |
|
|
Aftermath
In
October 2015, all six accused were found guilty of all criminal breach of trust
charges pertaining to 409 read with section 109 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224.
Falsification of Accounts under section 477A of the Penal Code, Chapter 224.
Alongside the conviction, other pastors and christians began speaking out
regarding the trial which was the second longest in Singapore history.
Serina Wee,
former finance manager of CHC, was found guilty of 6 counts of criminal breach
of trust and 4 counts of falsifying the church's accounts. The prosecutor
labelled her as the most inextricably involved in the conspiracy due to her
role as administrator of the Crossover project.
Sharon Tan,
former finance manager of CHC, was found guilty of 3 counts of criminal breach
of trust and 4 counts of falsifying the church's accounts. The prosecutor noted
her defense was deeply cynical and self-seriving, attempting to minimise her
involvement in the offences.
Chew Eng Han,
CHC board member, was found guilty of 6 counts of criminal breach of trust and
4 counts of falsifying church accounts. The prosecutor noted that his defense
was incoherent while lacking credibility.
Tan Ye Peng,
founding member and senior pastor of CHC, was found guilty of 6 counts of
criminal breach of trust and 4 counts of falsifying the church's accounts.
John Lam,
former secretary of the church's management board, was found guilty of 3 counts
of criminal breach of trust. The prosecutor noted that he was the inside man in
church governance and oversaw bodies that prevented the sham investment bonds
from being discovered.
Kong Hee,
senior pastor and founder of the church, was found guilty of 3 counts of
criminal breach of trust. The prosecutor noted that he was had not maintained a
consistent position on critical factual issues.
The
6 accused, and even the Prosecution, have all filed appeals on their
conviction, with the prosecution calling the current sentences "manifestly
inadequate". The appeals will be heard over 5 days,Sep 19 to Sep 23 of
2016.
In
July 2016, Chew filed a new police report against 8 members of the church
(including Kong Hee and Sun Ho). Chew alleged that this was for "fraudulent
misrepresentation of vital facts about the church which induced me and other
members to give our donations", and also for use of funds for purposes
other than what was represented to the members of the church.
No comments:
Post a Comment