City Harvest Church responds to questions over non—disclosure of
Suntec deal
Channel NewsAsia - Monday, April 5
SINGAPORE : City Harvest Church has sought to clear the air
surrounding the confidentiality of its deal to co—own Suntec
Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre.
In a two—page notice to its members on Sunday, it explained that
it had signed a non—disclosure agreement.
This makes the megachurch a party to the Shareholders
Agreement.
It has to keep confidential all matters and details relating to
the Suntec transaction, including the share price and the
percentage of shares acquired.
However, the church was entitled to, and did, disclose details
of the transaction to the relevant authorities, namely the
Commissioner of Charities and the Urban Redevelopment
Authority.
The notice added that when the church tried to give its members
some information about the transaction, other shareholders felt
that doing so would be a breach of the church’s obligation of
confidentiality.
On April 1, the Board of City Harvest Church received a letter
from solicitors acting for various other shareholders, reminding
the church of its obligations of confidentiality and the need to
adhere to them.
The church has since engaged law firm Drew and Napier to review
the situation and was advised that further disclosures may be
regarded as an "Event of Default".
And there is a possibility that the church will be obliged to
sell its shares to the non—defaulting shareholders at a substantial
discount.
The church also said there is a "strong and unfounded
allegation" floating online that the Management Board and Reverend
Kong Hee are "deliberately concealing a number of embarrassing
facts from its members".
It said the allegation is "furthest from the truth".
Turning to the sum of S$310 million which has been at the centre
of much debate, the church explained that the money was spent on
eight expenditure items, including the shares bought, renovation
costs, and committed rentals.
The church noted that its only continuing financial liability
will be the committed rental costs for the use of Suntec Convention
Centre.
In the event of non—payment, creditors have a cause of action
against the assets of the church, but members are not personally
liable. — CNA/ms
