KOH HUI TENG looks at what the money was budgeted for
She was the $10 million woman.
That was the budget set aside to produce and market an English album in the US for City Harvest Church (CHC) founder Kong Hee's wife, Ho Yeow Sun's.
Also known as Sun Ho, she was the face of the Crossover Project, a church mission that was started in 2002 to reach out to non-Christians through music.
But not every cent went into the music.
Nearly $700,000 was pencilled in as Kong's airfare, under the entry "increase in travelling expenses". The document was among the evidence submitted to the courts.
Kong and five others are on trial for allegedly misusing more than $50 million of church funds - $24 million to fund Ms Ho's career and another $26.6 million to cover the tracks of the first amount.
The second leg of the trial started on Monday.
The prosecution is querying the movement of funds between CHC and different parties like Xtron, Ms Ho's former management company.
Million-dollar budget
Documents submitted for the ongoing trial showed that the original budget for Ms Ho's Engoush album was US$6.79 million (S$8.7 million)
Of this, almost US$800,000 went to Wyclef Jean, a famed music producer and executive producer on her first US album.
Xtron thought they would make US$10 million plus by selling 1.5 million albums at US$7 each.
Ms Ho had actively pursued a music career in the US, where she was based largely, between 2003 and 2010.
She released several English singles while there, five of which made it to the Top 10 of Billboard's Hot Dance Club Songs.
Xtron directors later agreed during a meeting to increase the budget for her album by another US$2 million to US$8 million (S$10 million).
More than US$360,000 was budgeted for "airport panels in China", in another section showing where the US$13 million bonds had gone.
Kong's airfare was part of the reason that a US$25 million bond was needed.
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