CITY HARVEST CASE
Ex-finance manager faces 10
charges
Five charged a month ago made their second
appearance in court too
Serina Wee (bottom right getting into the car) outside the
subordinate courts yesterday with her husband, Mr Kenny Low (left),
surrounded by supporters. At least 100 church members packed into
the courtroom while about 200 more stood outside after being barred
from entering due to space constraints. -- ST PHOTO: KEVIN
LIM
By LEONARD LIM &
ELENA CHONG
COURT CORRESPONDENT
Five charged a month ago made their second appearance in court
too
A SIXTH senior member of City Harvest Church was charged in
court yesterday over the alleged misuse of more than $50 million in
church funds.
The mega church's former finance manager, Serina Wee, was
accused of six counts of criminal breach of trust and four of
falsifying accounts. If found guilty, she faces up to a lifetime in
jail.
Those charged a month ago - including City Harvest's
founding pastor Kong Hee - also made their second appearance in
court.
The stage is set for a long- drawn-out trial, with five
Senior Counsel engaged and the accused likely to plead not
guilty.
Wee is still employed by City Harvest as its procurement
manager.
Her name was first mentioned in court documents for the
five who were charged on June 27. It is believed that the
35-year-old was charged only yesterday as she gave birth to her
third child a couple of weeks ago.
The six are accused of channelling $24 million in church
building funds to sham bond investments, to conceal the diversion
of money to finance the career of Kong's celebrity wife, singer Ho
Yeow Sun. They also allegedly conspired to use a further $26.6
million of church funds to repay the sums owed.
The transactions occurred between August 2007 and
November 2009.
An active City Harvest member for more than a decade, Wee
was accompanied to court by husband Kenny Low, and is represented
by Senior Counsel Andre Maniam.
Public records indicate she is the secretary of more than
50 companies, several of which are linked to the 33,000-strong City
Harvest or its leadership. These include fashion retailers Skin
Couture and Ed Hardy, as well as Xtron Productions - the artist
management firm for Kong's wife, which allegedly had millions in
church funds siphoned into it.
Like the others, Wee had her police bail of $500,000
extended yesterday.
The lawyer for one of the six accused, 52-year-old Chew
Eng Han, indicated that he is likely to plead not guilty.
"Based on preliminary instructions, it is unlikely that
my client will take a certain course," said Senior Counsel Francis
Xavier.
The other lawyers echoed this and the proceedings ended
in less than 10 minutes. The six accused are scheduled for a
pre-trial conference on Aug 30.
Kong, 47, was the last of them to arrive at court
yesterday at 8.55am. By then, there were at least 100 church
members packed into the courtroom, some of whom arrived as early as
7.30am.
About 200 more stood outside the courtroom after being
barred from entering due to space constraints, with a few patting
him on the shoulder as he walked past.
Kong, who was not accompanied by his wife this time, left
without speaking to reporters but later sent a statement to The
Straits Times through his lawyers.
Saying he will "rigorously defend" his integrity, he
added: "I will explain the facts and circumstances to the court,
and am confident that I will be vindicated."
He faces three charges of criminal breach of trust.
Church management board member John Lam Leng Hung, 44, faces three
similar counts. Kong's deputy Tan Ye Peng, 39; church finance
manager Sharon Tan, 36; and Chew face between seven and 10 charges
of criminal breach of trust and falsifying accounts.
The first offence is punishable with a life sentence, or
up to 20 years in prison and a fine. The second carries a maximum
of 10 years in jail, a fine or both.
Two others who are named in court documents but have not
been charged are the church's assistant accountant Dua Poh Teng and
Indonesian businessman Wahju Hanafi, who owns a glassware firm that
allegedly had $11 million of church funds transferred into it.
Christian leaders from Malaysia and Indonesia also turned
up at the Subordinate Court, although the scene was soured by the
authorities having to remove an offensive poster placed outside the
courts before the crowds arrived.
A 57-year-old man was arrested in connection with the
incident, police said.
CITY HARVEST CASE
Legal fees may exceed $1m
each
Those charged last month include Kong Hee (above), Tan Ye
Peng, Sharon Tan and Chew Eng Han. -- ST PHOTOS: KEVIN
LIM, WONG KWAI CHOW
By JENNANI DURAI
THE court case involving six key members of City Harvest Church is
shaping up to be one of the most costly in recent history, with
each accused likely to foot a $1 million bill for top legal
help.
Five of the six accused have hired Senior Counsels while
senior pastor Kong Hee is represented by Mr Edwin Tong, who is also
a Member of Parliament for Moulmein-Kallang GRC.
There are 41 Senior Counsels - the local equivalent of
British Queen's Counsels, who are regarded as the elite in the
profession - here.
A Senior Counsel, who declined to be named, said most
lawyers of this stature charge between $1,000 and $1,300 an
hour.
This means that 10 days in court could incur fees from
half a million to a million dollars.
While clients may ask for a fee cap, he added that most
lawyers would be reluctant to give one as they do not know how much
work will go into the case.
Another senior lawyer said: "If complex issues or a lot of
documents are involved - as I presume they are in this case - the
cost could even be twice as much."
Criminal lawyer Josephus Tan said rates could differ
depending on lawyer and law firm.
"In big-firm culture, more often than not, it's an hourly
billing system, but this may or may not apply to criminal cases,
which are usually priced on a lump-sum basis."
Who is representing whom
• Senior pastor Kong Hee is
represented by Mr Edwin Tong from Allen & Gledhill;
• Deputy pastor Tan Ye Peng
by Senior Counsel Chelva Rajah of Tan, Rajah and Cheah, and lawyer
N. Sreenivasan of Straits Law;
• Finance manager Sharon Tan
Shao Yuen by Senior Counsel Kannan Ramesh of Tan Kok Quan
Partnership and lawyer Jeffrey Ong of JLC Advisors;
• Church management board
member John Lam Leng Hung by Senior Counsel Kenneth Tan of Kenneth
Tan Partnership and lawyer Nicholas Narayanan of Nicholas &
Tan;
• Investment manager Chew Eng
Han by Senior Counsel Francis Xavier of Rajah & Tann;
• Former finance chief Serina
Wee by Senior Counsel Andre Maniam of Wong Partnership.
Additional reporting by Bryna
Sim
Top Of The News, The Starits Times, Thursday, July 26, 2012, Pg
A2-3
Sure, I believe the church members will pay for the legal fee
for their celebrity pastor kong HEE and the others.
Money is not a problem. The church members are happily
conned by the hee kong. They willingly let him conned them.
Can go ahead shoot a film on this.
