Accused in City Harvest saga permitted to
travel
SINGAPORE: An accused in the City Harvest Church
misuse of funds saga has been permitted to travel
temporarily.
Tan Ye Peng, 39, applied for permission at the
subordinate courts on Thursday, saying he plans to go to Indonesia
for a four-day mission this month.
Tan, who is the vice-chairman of City Harvest
Church, faces six counts of conspiring to commit criminal breach of
trust by an agent and four counts of conspiring to falsify
accounts.
Tan is among six senior church leaders, including the church's
founding pastor Kong Hee, charged with varying counts of criminal
breach of trust and falsifying accounts.
Their passports have been impounded.
The case involved millions of dollars in City Harvest Church funds,
which were allegedly siphoned off to further the music career of
Kong Hee's wife, Ho Yeow Sun.
Two other accused church leaders, Kong Hee and investment manager
Chew Eng Han, had applied in July and August respectively for
permission to travel, and were allowed to go out of
Singapore.
The countries listed in their submissions include the United
States, Indonesia and South Korea.
All three accused have been allowed to travel until November 22 --
the date for their third pre-trial conference.
The pre-trial session, which will be held at noon, will be
conducted behind closed doors.
Lawyers said no trial date has been set.
- CNA/lp