Probe was traumatic for my son: Kong Hee (ST: 12th Sept 2014)

CITY HARVEST Church (CHC) founder Kong Hee became emotional on the stand yesterday as he told the court how investigations into financial irregularities at the church had affected his young son.
The pastor and five others are on trial for allegedly misusing $50 million in church funds to boost the music career of his wife Ho Yeow Sun and falsifying church accounts to cover up the misuse.

"The whole investigation was shocking and traumatic for my little boy," he said of his son Dayan, who was 51/2 years old when the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) started probing the church's financial affairs in 2010.

Choking up several times, he said the boy began to have panic attacks and would be "hyperventilating on most days", so much so that he and his wife had to take him to see a psychiatrist.

Kong, 50, recounted this after being asked by his lawyer, Mr Edwin Tong, why Ms Ho had not returned to the United States to complete her album once investigations started. This was in response to criticism raised earlier in the trial by Kong's co-accused and former CHC fund manager, Chew Eng Han, that Kong did not even launch the album to recover the church's money.

Yesterday, Kong said their son and the church needed her to be around. He said his son's classmates at a "very good Christian school" would innocently ask him: "Is your Dad in jail already?"
Dayan also asked him: "Dad, why are all the teachers and adults at school constantly talking about you?"

As for himself, Kong told the court his "life was never the same" after he was first questioned by the CAD for 15 hours on May 31, 2010.

"It was traumatic. I was devastated. I was in a state of shock. I was worried for my family and even more for the church," he said.

The court heard that three days after that interview, Kong typed out a 12-page letter setting out the history of the church and detailing the events surrounding the financing of Ms Ho's US music career. In the letter, Kong wrote: "I am willing to shoulder the blame of my failure as the senior pastor of CHC."

Yesterday, he said the letter was his way of coming clean and taking responsibility, as advised to do so by the church's then lawyer, Senior Counsel Jimmy Yim. He gave the letter to Mr Yim to be given to any authority he felt was necessary. It was later handed over to Mr Tong's firm.

The morning ended with a wrap-up of Mr Tong's re-examination of Kong, but a surprise emerged just before the lunch break when the prosecution asked to cross-examine Kong on the letter, which it was seeing for the first time. Chew, who is defending himself, made the same request, saying he received it only near the end of his cross-examination of Kong on Aug 19.

Granted the request, Chew challenged Kong on the authenticity of the letter, wondering how he had such exact dates and figures when numerous documents and the laptops of those called up for questioning had been seized by the CAD.

Kong said he would have relied on former CHC finance manager Serina Wee, who is also on trial, for the information.

Pressed on how she had the figures, Kong paused a long while and replied she could have backed up her files.

Chew also noted that Kong's memory was clear when he wrote the letter but became fuzzy five days later, when questioned again by the CAD. He put it to Kong that either the letter had been fabricated or he had lied to the investigators. Kong said he had tried to answer the CAD as best as he could.

Chew contended that the letter did not amount to taking responsibility, as Kong maintained in his CAD statements he was misguided because he had relied on others' advice, including Chew's.

Chew put it to Kong that he continued to portray himself as "heroic" and "a responsible pastor", when he was not.

Kong denied being heroic and said he really had wanted to take the rap.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Christopher Ong, in questioning Kong about the letter, noted that there were a few facts missing despite his claim that it was an attempt to come clean.

"Your Honour, with the benefit of hindsight, I could have come even cleaner. I tried to come clean but perhaps not squeaky clean enough for the DPP," Kong replied.

Kong finally stepped down from the stand yesterday after testifying for 19 days.

Sharon Tan, who took over from Wee as finance manager, is expected to take the stand when the trial continues today.