http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/city-harvest-trial-judgment-oct-21
Kong Hee,
founder of City Harvest Church (CHC)
Photo: The
New Paper
After 140 days stretching over two
years, the City Harvest Church (CHC) leaders' trial is finally
approaching its end.
State Courts Presiding Judge See
Kee Oon will deliver his judgment on Oct 21.
CHC founder Kong Hee and five
others are accused of misusing millions of church money.
Yesterday, the defence and
prosecution presented their final submissions.
THE
DEFENCE
KONG HEE
51, CHC founder and senior
pastor
Faces three charges of criminal
breach of trust (CBT)
Chief Prosecutor Mavis Chionh said
on Monday that Kong was a well-practised liar who tried to put an
innocent spin on his role.
But Kong's lawyer, Senior Counsel
Edwin Tong, said Kong was mostly overseas after 2007 and had relied
on other staff members to handle the day-to-day church affairs.
He said: "The fact of the matter is
that (Kong) was... relying on an organisational structure which...
has reliance on professional advisers."
SHARON TAN
39, CHC finance manager
Faces three charges of CBT and four
charges of falsification of accounts
Ms Chionh said Tan's evidence that
she was a hard-working, naive and ignorant church member was
"deeply cynical and self-serving".
Tan's lawyer, Mr Paul Seah, said
her motive was not criminal. All she wanted to do was to avoid
audit issues.
"This is not a smooth operator or
highly sophisticated wheeler-dealer...she had no corporate
experience. This was her first real job."
JOHN LAM
47, former board and investment
committee member
Faces three charges of CBT
Ms Chionh accused him of being the
"inside man" in ensuring regulatory authorities did not discover
the true nature of the accused's doings.
But Lam's lawyer, Senior Counsel
Kenneth Tan, said his client, who was occasionally roped in to
handle specific financial issues, was no saboteur. "A faith in
wanting to evangelise does not extend and... is incompatible to a
faith that requires you to do something criminal, to cheat the
church, which he and many of the co-accused love, to achieve a
church end."
CHEW ENG HAN
55, former CHC fund manager
Faces six charges of CBT and four
charges of falsification of accounts
Ms Chionh said Chew's defence was
incoherent and contained many fundamental flaws and
contradictions.
Chew, who has 30 years' experience
in financial markets and is representing himself, said that what he
did was common industry practice.
"I think they had better go and
take some courses in financial markets before they throw insults at
me," he said of the prosecution.
TAN
YE PENG
42, CHC deputy senior pastor
Faces six charges of CBT and four
charges of falsification of accounts
As CHC's No. 2, Tan's attempts to
shirk responsibility were "lies of a man without credit", Ms Chionh
said.
His lawyer, Senior Counsel N.
Sreenivasan, said Tan did not push any responsibility away,
especially when it came to the structuring of financial
instruments.
Tan had, in fact, stepped up to
take responsibility, he added.
SERINA WEE
38, former CHC finance manager
Faces six charges of CBT and four
charges of falsification of accounts
Ms Chionh said Wee's evidence was a
"bare denial".
Wee's lawyer, Senior Counsel Andre
Maniam, stressed there was no dishonesty involved and she had
believed they were legally entitled to do what she did.
"Yes, church funds were used, but
they were used for church purposes.
"The prosecution has not alleged
that any of the accused intended wrongful gain.
"They just say wrongful loss. What
is that loss?"
THE
PROSECUTION
The fundamental lie that made the
use of the church's building fund a crime was when church members
and donors were told that it was meant to safeguard the money for
future investments, said Ms Chionh yesterday.
"The donors to the Building Fund
did not know that Kong Hee, Ye Peng, John, Eng Han and Serina had
other plans... which were a betrayal of the trust placed in
them."
This led to the need to disguise
the wrongful use as legitimate investments - the reason the sham
Xtron and Firna bonds were created, she said.
But the greatest of these lies was
the round-tripping of more church money to deceive the auditors by
removing the bonds from the church's accounts.
"Now they say they did not do so to
put money in their own pockets. They say it was for a noble aim: to
further the church's evangelical purpose.
"But... the professed belief of the
modern-day Robin Hood that he is stealing to further a greater
social good in no way makes his theft any less a crime."
ABOUT THE CASE
City Harvest Church founder Kong
Hee and five others are on trial for allegedly misusing church
funds through sham bonds.
First, $24 million was allegedly
misused to fund the music career of Kong's wife, Ms Ho Yeow Sun,
whose stage name is Sun Ho, and another $26.6 million to allegedly
cover up the first amount.
This was done through music
production firm Xtron Productions and glass manufacturer Firna,
both run by long-time church supporters, prosecutors said.
Kong, 51, former board member John
Lam, 47, finance manager Sharon Tan, 39, ex-fund manager Chew Eng
Han, 55, deputy senior pastor Tan Ye Peng, 42, and former finance
manager Serina Wee, 38, face charges of criminal breach of trust
and/or falsifying accounts.
The evidence trained the spotlight
on the inner workings of the church and the ties of the accused
with the Crossover Project, a church plan which sought to use Ms
Ho's secular music to evangelise.
Kong and the others have maintained
that the church's transactions were legitimate and they had acted
"in good faith" on the advice of lawyers and auditors.
