We were sure we had won it but we were played out.
Former City Harvest Church (CHC) fund manager Chew Eng Han was referring to the church's bid for a stake in Suntec Convention Centre in mid 2009.
Despite supposedly submitting a higher bid, it lost the tender to its only competitor.
When Chew was cross-examined by co-accused Sharon Tan's lawyer, Senior Counsel Kannan Ramesh, on the church's property search, he said there was foul play in the bidding process.
"We got played out by the owners of Suntec. And the whole tender was rigged," he told the court.
On Thursday, Chew testified during his examination-in-chief that the competitor had called him right after the closing of the tender and they revealed their bids to each other.
"We put in $230 million and (they) put in $225 million. And the owners (of Suntec)... told us we were not the highest bid. The highest was $235 million," Chew told the court on Thursday.
He also presented an e-mail to the court quoting one of his associates, who was then on the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) board, as saying that "CHC was under URA's radar and (it was) most likely difficult to get an approval for church purposes for a land downtown".
DELAYED
This meant that the church's search for a new venue for worship services had been continually delayed since 2005, despite CHC arming it with $46 million of advance rental to secure a new worship venue, Chew said. As Xtron now had spare cash, it used some of the unused advance rental to redeem the bond that the church had earlier bought from it, he said.
The prosecution has however alleged this to be a falsification of accounts to defraud auditors, even though Chew claimed that it was merely "one loan offsetting another loan".
He also said that the move to redeem the Xtron bond using the advance rental was cleared with auditors and lawyers.
The prosecution is alleging that the Xtron-CHC bond is one of two sham bonds that the church invested in to fund singer Ho Yeow Sun's music career.
Chew, 54, who quit the church in June 2013, is the fourth accused to take the stand. He is representing himself after discharging his lawyer last May.
Yesterday, he was cross-examined by three of his co-accused's defence lawyers.
He told the court that he first attended a CHC service in December 1995.
He converted to Christianity that day and grew close to Kong after his brother-in-law was killed in the SilkAir MI185 crash in 1997, he said.
He said he was then invited to join the CHC board and take on management and financial leadership roles as Kong, CHC's founder and Chew's co-accused, was impressed with his appointment as the head of State Street Bank.
Senior Counsel Edwin Tong, who is representing Kong, also challenged Chew on his testimony that Ms Ho's singing success was not real.
Mr Tong presented to the court various music charts that Ms Ho's albums had topped, and pointed out that these charts were published before the e-mails with plans to buy back her albums had been sent by Chew's co-accused.
Chew admitted there was no correlation between the charts and the e-mails.
The trial continues on Monday.
Saturday, January 31, 2015
Xtron, not church, funded Ho: Chew (ST: 31 Jan 2015)
Xtron is a separate entity and its money is not church money, he says
CITY Harvest Church money was never used to fund its Crossover evangelism project, contrary to prosecutors' claims, the mega-church's former fund manager told a court yesterday.
Instead, Chew Eng Han said the church simply lent money - via bonds - to Xtron, the production company set up by church leaders.
Xtron, which managed the music career of founding pastor Kong Hee's wife Ho Yeow Sun, did put money into the Crossover project, as per the decision of Kong to have a third party "take the financial risk" in place of the church.
But as Xtron was a "separate accounting entity", the use of its money could not be equated with the use of church money, Chew maintained.
Chew, 54, faces six counts of criminal breach of trust and four counts of falsifying accounts as one of six leaders from City Harvest Church - including founder Kong Hee - accused of misusing $50 million of church funds.
This money, prosecutors believe, was channelled to boost the music career of Ms Ho through the Crossover project - which aimed to evangelise through her secular music.
The accused are also alleged to have covered up the misuse of the funds.
In his fifth day on the stand, Chew was cross-examined by the defence counsel representing three of his co-accused: Kong, church finance manager Sharon Tan, and senior pastor Tan Ye Peng.
The lawyers took turns to pick through the evidence that Chew had presented in court earlier in the week, during which he had spent a significant amount of time accusing Tan Ye Peng and Kong of manipulating informa-tion and mismanaging the Crossover project's expenditures.
Kong's lawyer, Mr Edwin Tong, sought to show that his client had been making decisions based on input from legal, auditing and music industry experts, with Kong "very anxious" to make sure that the experts vetted the transaction plans.
Senior counsel Kannan Ramesh then tried to show that his client Sharon Tan had not been a mastermind, but merely someone whose role, as Chew himself put it, "was just to execute" plans.
When Tan Ye Peng's defence lawyer N. Sreenivasan asked if church money had been used to fund the Crossover project, as per the prosecution's charges, Chew was quick to say "no".
"People have different interpretations of the use of the word 'use'," he said.
"Xtron is a separate entity, legal entity, and separate accounting entity from City Harvest Church.
"If City Harvest Church lends money to Xtron, Xtron has a financial obligation, a legal obligation, to pay back to CHC. And whatever Xtron does with the money, whether it's for property or for Crossover or for other things, it has to pay it back to City Harvest Church."
The $13 million in bonds issued to the church was just "an investment by the church into Xtron", Chew insisted, noting that he had verified this with the church auditor and accountant Foong Daw Ching.
The long-running trial will enter its 94th day on Monday.
CITY Harvest Church money was never used to fund its Crossover evangelism project, contrary to prosecutors' claims, the mega-church's former fund manager told a court yesterday.
Instead, Chew Eng Han said the church simply lent money - via bonds - to Xtron, the production company set up by church leaders.
Xtron, which managed the music career of founding pastor Kong Hee's wife Ho Yeow Sun, did put money into the Crossover project, as per the decision of Kong to have a third party "take the financial risk" in place of the church.
But as Xtron was a "separate accounting entity", the use of its money could not be equated with the use of church money, Chew maintained.
Chew, 54, faces six counts of criminal breach of trust and four counts of falsifying accounts as one of six leaders from City Harvest Church - including founder Kong Hee - accused of misusing $50 million of church funds.
This money, prosecutors believe, was channelled to boost the music career of Ms Ho through the Crossover project - which aimed to evangelise through her secular music.
The accused are also alleged to have covered up the misuse of the funds.
In his fifth day on the stand, Chew was cross-examined by the defence counsel representing three of his co-accused: Kong, church finance manager Sharon Tan, and senior pastor Tan Ye Peng.
The lawyers took turns to pick through the evidence that Chew had presented in court earlier in the week, during which he had spent a significant amount of time accusing Tan Ye Peng and Kong of manipulating informa-tion and mismanaging the Crossover project's expenditures.
Kong's lawyer, Mr Edwin Tong, sought to show that his client had been making decisions based on input from legal, auditing and music industry experts, with Kong "very anxious" to make sure that the experts vetted the transaction plans.
Senior counsel Kannan Ramesh then tried to show that his client Sharon Tan had not been a mastermind, but merely someone whose role, as Chew himself put it, "was just to execute" plans.
When Tan Ye Peng's defence lawyer N. Sreenivasan asked if church money had been used to fund the Crossover project, as per the prosecution's charges, Chew was quick to say "no".
"People have different interpretations of the use of the word 'use'," he said.
"Xtron is a separate entity, legal entity, and separate accounting entity from City Harvest Church.
"If City Harvest Church lends money to Xtron, Xtron has a financial obligation, a legal obligation, to pay back to CHC. And whatever Xtron does with the money, whether it's for property or for Crossover or for other things, it has to pay it back to City Harvest Church."
The $13 million in bonds issued to the church was just "an investment by the church into Xtron", Chew insisted, noting that he had verified this with the church auditor and accountant Foong Daw Ching.
The long-running trial will enter its 94th day on Monday.
Thursday, January 29, 2015
CHC trial: Lawyers and auditors aware of “unusual plan”, no red flags raised (Today: 31 Jan 2015)
SINGAPORE — While admitting that he was the sole author of a plan to channel funds into audio-visual firm Xtron Productions to acquire a site to house City Harvest Church (CHC) and redeem bonds, the church’s former investment manager Chew Eng Han said he had proceeded only when given the legal green light.
He even shared the plan, involving a series of financial transactions through multiple entities, with the CHC board so as to get its blessing, Chew told the court today (Jan 30). “I wanted to be more accountable.”
Chew, 54, is among six church leaders, including CHC founder Kong Hee, accused of misusing S$24 million of church building funds to buy sham bonds in two companies to boost the music career of Kong’s wife, pop singer Ho Yeow Sun.
One of these two companies is Xtron, which manages Ms Ho.
Another S$26.6 million of church funds was then allegedly circulated through complex transactions — which the prosecution refers to as “round-tripping” — to cover up the first amount.
Chew told the court he had also consulted lawyers and auditors on the plan to use the church’s bond investments to fund Ms Ho’s pop career, also known as the Crossover Project, which was aimed at reaching out to non-Christians.
“The reaction I got was the same: No problem,” Chew told the court when Senior Counsel Edwin Tong, who is representing Kong, asked if red flags were raised.
Chew added that Kong and his deputy Tan Ye Peng, also one of the accused, had on multiple occasions requested him to seek professional assurance for the plans.
In the investment market, Chew said, there are fine lines between taking risks, recklessness and criminal negligence. “Kong Hee, in his attempt to want to make this project successful, could border between just taking calculated risks and recklessness,” he said in response to Tan’s lawyer N Sreenivasan, who had noted Chew’s “careful” choice of words.
Earlier this week, Chew told the court that he realised only in recent years that Ms Ho’s singing career had been boosted by the church’s bulk purchase of her albums.
However, Mr Tong argued today that Ms Ho’s albums had topped the radio charts in Singapore and Taiwan, among others, since 2002 — two years before the buyback plan of her CDs was implemented.
Mr Tong added that Chew was already in the know about the buyback plan as he was part of the CHC board then — to which Chew agreed.
Former CHC leader: 'Whatever I did was for God and Kong Hee' (TNP: 30 Jan 2015)
I sacrificed for the church even in my darkest hours.
Former City Harvest Church (CHC) leader Chew Eng Han told the court yesterday that he had believed in and worked for the church and his spiritual mentor Kong Hee, even as he was suffering from depression.
"Since I joined (in 1995), I've given over $600,000 to the church in the form of tithes and building fund.
What I wanted to do is lessen the burden for the members," he said. Chew, 54, is one of six leaders, including CHC founder Kong, accused of misusing millions of church money to fund the music career of singer-pastor Ho Yeow Sun.
Chew, who is representing himself after discharging his lawyer last May, left the church in June 2013, reportedly citing "a collision of primarily spiritual and moral principles".
He is the fourth accused to take the stand. He told the court yesterday that he suffered from depression from 2007 till 2009.
This stemmed from a series of events such as his wife suffering from deep vein thrombosis, his daughter breaking her ankle during cheerleading practice and him losing money in the stock market and his savings when the subprime mortgage crisis happened.
"I lost all confidence in my trading abilities. I would have trouble sleeping and wake up each morning with a heavy head and feeling confused.
"Nobody would guess I was going through depression from the way I was continuing to serve the church, doing the Xtron bonds and... Firna bonds," he said.
He also said that in 2006, he and another CHC member donated $40,000 to Xtron, which was Ms Ho's management company, from 2003 to 2008. The money was meant to be used for Ms Ho's expenses, he added.
"This was because Kong Hee came to me and explained that they had a lot of travelling to do in the United States. Because of the tight budget of Xtron, they had to fly economy class and that it was a long flight and very tiring for them.
"I never had bad intentions to cause losses to the church. Everything I did, I did it for God and for Kong Hee, who I thought was the man of God."
After Chew wrapped up giving his evidence, he was cross-examined by co-accused and former CHC board member John Lam's lawyer, Senior Counsel Kenneth Tan.
During the cross-examination, Chew told the court that CHC had a practice of "writing dates of meetings that sometimes don't take place".
Kong's lawyer, Senior Counsel Edwin Tong, is expected to continue with the cross-examination today.
Former City Harvest Church (CHC) leader Chew Eng Han told the court yesterday that he had believed in and worked for the church and his spiritual mentor Kong Hee, even as he was suffering from depression.
"Since I joined (in 1995), I've given over $600,000 to the church in the form of tithes and building fund.
What I wanted to do is lessen the burden for the members," he said. Chew, 54, is one of six leaders, including CHC founder Kong, accused of misusing millions of church money to fund the music career of singer-pastor Ho Yeow Sun.
Chew, who is representing himself after discharging his lawyer last May, left the church in June 2013, reportedly citing "a collision of primarily spiritual and moral principles".
He is the fourth accused to take the stand. He told the court yesterday that he suffered from depression from 2007 till 2009.
This stemmed from a series of events such as his wife suffering from deep vein thrombosis, his daughter breaking her ankle during cheerleading practice and him losing money in the stock market and his savings when the subprime mortgage crisis happened.
"I lost all confidence in my trading abilities. I would have trouble sleeping and wake up each morning with a heavy head and feeling confused.
"Nobody would guess I was going through depression from the way I was continuing to serve the church, doing the Xtron bonds and... Firna bonds," he said.
He also said that in 2006, he and another CHC member donated $40,000 to Xtron, which was Ms Ho's management company, from 2003 to 2008. The money was meant to be used for Ms Ho's expenses, he added.
"This was because Kong Hee came to me and explained that they had a lot of travelling to do in the United States. Because of the tight budget of Xtron, they had to fly economy class and that it was a long flight and very tiring for them.
"I never had bad intentions to cause losses to the church. Everything I did, I did it for God and for Kong Hee, who I thought was the man of God."
After Chew wrapped up giving his evidence, he was cross-examined by co-accused and former CHC board member John Lam's lawyer, Senior Counsel Kenneth Tan.
During the cross-examination, Chew told the court that CHC had a practice of "writing dates of meetings that sometimes don't take place".
Kong's lawyer, Senior Counsel Edwin Tong, is expected to continue with the cross-examination today.
'Everything I did was for God... and Kong Hee' (ST: 30 Jan 2015)
Accused says his faith saved him and he dedicated himself to serving pastor.
The years during which fund manager Chew Eng Han allegedly helped to set up sham investments on behalf of City Harvest Church were the lowest point of his life, a court heard yesterday.
Not because the 54-year-old was knowingly embroiled in any conspiracies, but because he faced a slew of personal "trials" - including almost losing his sight in one eye, financial difficulties and his wife almost dying.
Chew faces six counts of criminal breach of trust and four of falsifying accounts as one of six people from the megachurch - including founder Kong Hee - accused of misusing some $50 million worth of church funds.
This money, prosecutors believe, was channelled to boost the music career of Kong's wife, Ms Ho Yeow Sun, through the megachurch's Crossover evangelism project - then covering up the misuse.
Chew, in his four days on the stand, repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, insisting that he could not possibly have committed criminal breach of trust as he had structured the financial transactions so as not to cause losses to the church.
He claimed his longstanding relationship with the church and unwavering trust in his senior pastors were developed over 18 years as a member, and gave him no motivation to do anything sinister.
Wrapping up his evidence in court yesterday, Chew said the tribulations he faced in the years from 2007 to 2009 - which he documented in a "spiritual journal", copies of which were handed out in court - left him depressed.
He needed surgery to repair a detached retina in his left eye, and watched helplessly as his personal fund management business faltered during the global financial crisis.
He also injured his back caring for his wife whom he said temporarily lost the use of her legs due to deep-vein thrombosis.
It was his faith that helped to bring him around, and he threw himself into "doing whatever projects that pastor (Kong) required".
These included the Crossover project, which Chew said gave him "a sense of purpose".
Chew also cited his generous financial contributions to the church as examples of how devoted he was to its people and missions.
From the time he joined in 1996 to his departure from the church in 2013, he said he gave more than $600,000 in tithes and contributions to its Building Fund - the source of some of the misused funds.
When Kong told him that the Crossover project constituted a lot of flying for Ms Ho, and that a "tight budget" allowed her to fly only economy class which was "very tiring", Chew and another church board member donated a total of $40,000 for the singer's expenses.
"I never had bad intentions to cause loss to the church," said Chew. "Everything I did, I did it for God, and for Kong Hee, whom I thought was the man of God."
The trial continues today, with Chew expected to be cross-examined by the defence counsel of the other accused. - See more at: http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/everything-i-did-was-god-and-kong-hee#sthash.TWjOtUOa.dpuf
The years during which fund manager Chew Eng Han allegedly helped to set up sham investments on behalf of City Harvest Church were the lowest point of his life, a court heard yesterday.
Not because the 54-year-old was knowingly embroiled in any conspiracies, but because he faced a slew of personal "trials" - including almost losing his sight in one eye, financial difficulties and his wife almost dying.
Chew faces six counts of criminal breach of trust and four of falsifying accounts as one of six people from the megachurch - including founder Kong Hee - accused of misusing some $50 million worth of church funds.
This money, prosecutors believe, was channelled to boost the music career of Kong's wife, Ms Ho Yeow Sun, through the megachurch's Crossover evangelism project - then covering up the misuse.
Chew, in his four days on the stand, repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, insisting that he could not possibly have committed criminal breach of trust as he had structured the financial transactions so as not to cause losses to the church.
He claimed his longstanding relationship with the church and unwavering trust in his senior pastors were developed over 18 years as a member, and gave him no motivation to do anything sinister.
Wrapping up his evidence in court yesterday, Chew said the tribulations he faced in the years from 2007 to 2009 - which he documented in a "spiritual journal", copies of which were handed out in court - left him depressed.
He needed surgery to repair a detached retina in his left eye, and watched helplessly as his personal fund management business faltered during the global financial crisis.
He also injured his back caring for his wife whom he said temporarily lost the use of her legs due to deep-vein thrombosis.
It was his faith that helped to bring him around, and he threw himself into "doing whatever projects that pastor (Kong) required".
These included the Crossover project, which Chew said gave him "a sense of purpose".
Chew also cited his generous financial contributions to the church as examples of how devoted he was to its people and missions.
From the time he joined in 1996 to his departure from the church in 2013, he said he gave more than $600,000 in tithes and contributions to its Building Fund - the source of some of the misused funds.
When Kong told him that the Crossover project constituted a lot of flying for Ms Ho, and that a "tight budget" allowed her to fly only economy class which was "very tiring", Chew and another church board member donated a total of $40,000 for the singer's expenses.
"I never had bad intentions to cause loss to the church," said Chew. "Everything I did, I did it for God, and for Kong Hee, whom I thought was the man of God."
The trial continues today, with Chew expected to be cross-examined by the defence counsel of the other accused. - See more at: http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/everything-i-did-was-god-and-kong-hee#sthash.TWjOtUOa.dpuf
29 Jan 2015 – Eng Han EIC (PM session) – Spiritual Journal (MrsLightnFriends: 30 Jan 2015)
Before he ended his examination-in-chief
this afternoon, Mr Chew Eng Han presented one last exhibit — a
spiritual journal detailing his period of depression as he and his
family faced a series of trials from 2006 to 2009.
Chew Eng Han’s spiritual journal
From darkness to light
One day as
I was praying, God spoke to me to prepare for trials to come my way. I
was having a good job then, was financially well-off, and was doing
great in family life, ministry, physical and emotional health. Then in
mid 2006, the first of a series of trials hit us.
My wife
was taking a lift down in her office building after work when suddenly
the lift began to shake and there was loud banging noises. She was all
alone and began to panic, feeling that the lift was in a freefall. By
the time the lift reached the ground floor, it hit the floor with a
bang. Then the door opened, and she quickly rushed out in fear. She
walked to my car, got in, and broke down. That incident triggered an
anxiety disorder in her, and she lost her confidence as well as some of
her memory. She became fearful of getting into lifts as well. Through
the months, we tried to help her regain confidence, but failed. Then, in
December 2006, the next trial began
Inexplicably,
my vision in my left eye began to blur. The doctor I visited said it
was no cause for concern and would go off, but it became worse by the
day, till I had lost about 90 percent of my eyesight. I went to an eye
specialist, who found that my retina had torn and dropped down. He told
me to prepare for an immediate major operation, or I would risk losing
my eyesight in the left eye forever. Without having any time to think, I
rushed back home to pack my clothes and rushed back to the hospital to
get warded in.
Whilst
waiting for the operation, I had no fear and was totally at peace that
God would bless the operation. It turned out well, and the doctor
declared it a success. I was told to rest for a few months at home, and
had to go back for regular reviews. With each visit, my eyesight
recovered amazingly fast. I was told that it would take 6 to 12 months
to recover, and at best I would regain 60 percent of my eyesight.
However, within 6 weeks, I regained almost 100 percent of my eyesight!
Through the peace and faith I had in God, I received supernatural
healing.
As I just
recovered, the next trial happened, in January 2007. My wife Janet fell
off a ladder and broke her calcaneum bone at the right ankle. In she
went for a major operation, and it turned out successful as the
orthopaedic surgeon was able to piece the broken parts together despite
the anticipated difficulty.
[Heard in court: "...January 2007, your Honour is the date of the
alleged conspiracy, where I allegedly conspired with Kong Hee and the
rest to misappropriate funds from the church."]
She had to
go back for regular reviews and each time she had to take a wheelchair
and go into a lift. Ironically, that forced her to face her fear of
lifts, and she overcame it! But as time progressed, we found that her
right leg could still not function as it should. To make matters worse,
as she rested at home with a cast in her right leg, her left thigh and
calf began to swell and harden. The orthopaedist thought it was just
some muscle strain on the left leg, but it became worse by the weeks. By
some strange intervention by God, we found out that it was a serious
deadly condition called Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), where the blood in
her leg had clotted and the clots had spread all the way from her feet
to above waist level. If we had discovered it a little later, the clots
would have gone up to her heart and caused death.
It was
also a miracle that Janet had survived so many weeks with DVT, as this
condition has been know to kill within hours or days. The other miracle
was that it actually took an injury on my spinal disc to lead to the
discovery of the seriousness of Janet’s condition. I had injured my
spine whilst carrying Janet’s wheelchair, and the pain was so
excruciating that I could not stand or walk for a week. One day as I was
about to go to the physiotherapist, I decided to bring Janet along to
see if they could help with the swelling on the leg. When the
physiotherapist saw the hardness on her leg, she suspected it was DVT
and advised us to go for a medical test.
Led by the
Holy Spirit, I decided not to wait another day and took her straight to
the hospital. It did turn out to be DVT and she was warded immediately
and put on a blood thinning medication called Wafarin. The doctor said
her clots had reached all the way to above the waist and she was at high
risk.
So here
was a situation where Janet was hospitalized, unable to walk with both
legs, and I was still suffering pain and struggling to walk as well. One
night as I laid in bed, I was feeling so depressed and tired. I slept
alone and discouraged. God woke me up and asked me to read Psalms 34. I
went through the whole Psalm, and as I reached the last line, God told
me to confess it out aloud. I did, and He instructed me to keep
repeating it aloud. So I kept saying “No one who trusts in Him shall be
condemned” and as I said it, I felt the power of God coming upon me
suddenly. Tears flowed profusely, my body trembled, and I began to cough
out what I believe was the spirit of condemnation. God had given me a
word to deliver me! After that I felt so good, and I thought perhaps my
disc problem was healed and I could walk. I got up from bed and tried,
but it wasn’t healed. Nevertheless, because of God’s word and
deliverance, I had confidence inside my spirit that I would get healed
quickly. True enough, within a week or so, I could walk again after
religiously doing the exercises that the physiotherapist had
recommended.
[Heard in court: "On the third line of the third paragraph, I said:
'I was feeling so depressed and tired. I slept alone and discouraged.'
By now, your Honour, this is about April 2007, three months after the
alleged conspiracy began."]
Janet’s
DVT was under control by the medication, but my April 2007, she was
still unable to use either her right or left leg. Both were weak and non
functional. She began to slide into depression as she had been
incapacitated at home for months by now.
Benny Hinn
was coming to minister at the Indoor Stadium, and we believed that God
would heal her supernaturally. Janet began to fast for her own healing,
and on the first night, we went to the healing meeting with expectation
for God to move. Nothing happened that night. We were disappointed, but
believed that God would heal her the next night.
At the
next night’s meeting, God indeed moved. Whilst Pastor Benny was calling
out for various healings, God spoke to Janet to get up to walk. She felt
heat rushing all over her body and down to her feet, and turned to me
to tell me she could walk. I immediately snapped the pedals off the
wheelchair so she could stand unobstructed. She rose up, and immediately
started to walk, and walked all the way through the aisle to the stage
where she was to testify of her healing. It was a supercharged
atmosphere of God’s presence enveloping us, as she walked briskly as if
she had been walking all these months. God delivered us once again The
afflictions of the righteous are many, but God delivers us out of
everyone of them all!
Before we
could rest for long, the next trial came. My 17 year old daughter Clair
was practicing for cheerleading when she fell and broke her left ankle.
It was back to the hospital again. Thankfully, Clair did not develop any
complication and recovered much faster than Janet. Before long, she was
back on her feet and walking without crutches.
[Heard in court: "This was, by then, probably about June or July 2007. We were close to the Xtron bonds."]
Then in
late 2007 came a crisis of different nature. I had left my job at the
bank and started to a fund management business on my own. Besides
earning fees from clients, which was not substantive enough, I traded my
own capital as well. The infamous sub-prime crisis began to hit
financial markets, and the volatiltity and fears sweeping the markets
made trading the markets extremely challenging. In the first half of
2007 I had chalked up about $200,000 of trading profits, but as the
crisis came, I began to lose everything I had made. To make matters
worse, I had money owing from a certain party which by now looked
unrecoverable. And I had no longer the stability of a monthly salary
which I had been accustomed to my whole working life.
I lost all
confidence in my trading abilities, and began to experience anxiety and
heaviness. I would have trouble sleeping and wake up each morning with a
heavy head and feeling confused and lost in my mind. I went through
rounds of deliverance, and began a slow path of recovery. What helped me
most was really the word of God. Each day I would look for verses which
spoke to me, and I would meditate and confess them till I felt strength
returning inside me. The effect would wear off quickly though, and
everyday would be a struggle whereby I kept taking up the word and
confessing it till I felt better.
[Heard in court: "Not many people knew I was going through
depression, your Honour, other than Kong Hee or Tan Ye Peng. And nobody
would guess I was going through depression from the way I was continuing
to serve the church, doing the Xtron bonds and, later on, the Firna
bonds and buying Riverwalk, and then going for Suntec, Toa Payoh
stadium, Capitol. I was still in depression."]
Meanwhile,
my trading just stayed bad, and nothing seemed to go right for me. It
came to a point where I doubted I would ever be able to trade profitably
like I used to. I prayed more and clung to God as much as I knew how
to, with the mental confusion that had beset me. I had feelings that
kept telling me that God no longer cared for me or loved me, and that He
was finished with my life. The fear of being forsaken by God was mixed
with anger and feelings of injustice- how could God let me sink to this
state when I had served Him and given so much finances into His kingdom?
And when I saw others who were less fervent for God and yet prospering,
it hurt me even more. My mind went into despair, confusion, anxiety,
depression, hopelessness. Each time I just turned to two things- prayer
and the word.
[Heard in court: “And this was how I was feeling, your Honour: how
could God let me sink to this state when I had served him and given so
much finances into his kingdom? I’ve never been a taker; I’ve
always been a giver to the church. And, as I have testified over the
days, that when I did the Xtron and Firna bonds, it was a ministry to
the church and that’s why I never wanted to charge any fees. I was telling the truth.“]
I got more
positive as the months passed. After more than a year, nothing had
changed in my business or trading- but I learned to handle the
disappointment and anxiety much better. I would tell myself everyday
that God loved me and cared for me, and was working all things for my
good. I would try my best to continue in ministry- leading the business
group, getting the land for the church, doing whatever projects that
pastor required of me.
[Heard in court: "Your Honour, this is the Crossover Project.
Despite my condition, I put my heart and soul into the land and the
Crossover, because I thought these were the two most important things
for City Harvest Church."]
It helped give me a sense of purpose and
remind me that God was still using me. And that kept me going for Him
and helped my faith stay strong despite the absence of any visible
breakthrough.
I know God
will take me out of this darkness. His will for me is good, and as my
Father, He will ensure my life goes back up again so that I can lead the
life of abundance and blessing which He wants for all His children. It
seems difficult at times to continue believing Him, but everytime I just
make a decision to continue to believe what He says in His Word. That
is the only thing that one can cling on to in times when one cannot see
His hand. But that is the most important thing in keeping our faith –
not His presence, not His hand, but His word. It is so true, faith comes
by hearing, and by hearing His word. God is good, God is faithful, and
God has a good plan for us all!
Your Honour, all these years, 2007, 2008, 2009, I never thought I was in a conspiracy. I thought God was using me. When I did the land and when I did the Crossover, it gave me a sense of purpose. It reminded me that God was still using me for his Kingdom. I never had bad intentions, to cause loss to the church. Everything I did, I did it for God, and for Kong Hee, who I thought was a man of God.
Your Honour, I’ve finished my EIC.
City Harvest trial: Priority of advance rent was to ‘secure premises for worship’ (Today: 30 Jan 2015)
SINGAPORE — The “advance rental” City Harvest Church (CHC) pumped
into Xtron Productions was intended to equip the audio-visual firm with
financial strength so that it could secure premises for worship, the
church’s former investment manager Chew Eng Han said today (Jan 29).
“(It) was a serious agreement between Xtron and CHC. It was not something that was done at the last minute, Your Honour, to redeem the bonds. Never in my mind was the advance rental all about redemption,” he told the court.
Chew is among six church leaders, including CHC founder Kong Hee, accused of misusing S$24 million of church-building funds in Xtron to boost the pop music career of Ms Ho Yeow Sun, Kong’s wife.
Another S$26.6 million of church funds was then allegedly circulated through complex transactions — which the prosecution refers to as “round-tripping” — to clear the bonds off the church’s books to throw auditors off the scent.
One of these methods involved paying Xtron advance rent — through a licensing agreement worth S$46 million inked on October 2009 — for premises the church could use for its services.
Some of the money from the agreement was used to redeem the Xtron bonds, but Chew described their redemption as “secondary”. This was because he “did not think they were sham bonds and thought (Ms Ho’s) album sales will eventually come in and the bonds will be redeemed”, said Chew, who took the stand for the fourth day in the long-running trial.
He added that the funds were used to redeem the bonds at the church auditor’s “insistence”.
Chew said he had initially been fully supportive of the church’s Crossover project, aimed at reaching out to non-Christians through Ms Ho’s secular music. He even made a joint contribution of S$40,000 with a fellow church member for her travelling expenses in 2006.
“I told Pastor Kong that we are honoured to play our small part in the great work that God is doing through Sun, because I always believed that the Crossover was a work of God. It couldn’t turn into a conspiracy.”
Chew added that he had “laid down (his) life for the church” since joining CHC in 1995 and had given about S$600,000 in tithes and donations.
He said such “sacrifices” continued even when he was suffering from depression between 2007 and 2009, the time when the alleged conspiracy to cause losses to CHC was hatched.
Chew also shared a three-page spiritual journal with the court, where he related the multiple trials his family members had been going through during the same period, such as his wife’s near-death from deep vein thrombosis and when the United States subprime mortgage crisis caused him to be riddled with losses.
“Despite my condition, I put in all for the Crossover and property,” said Chew, who left CHC in 2013.
“I thought God was using me for His kingdom ... every day I did it for God and for Kong Hee, whom I thought was a man of God.”
Earlier this week, Chew told the court he only realised in recent years that the track record of Ms Ho’s singing career was “falsified” and that Kong had chosen not to disclose the lackadaisical progress of the Crossover project.
Kong’s lawyer Edwin Tong will cross-examine Chew tomorrow.
“(It) was a serious agreement between Xtron and CHC. It was not something that was done at the last minute, Your Honour, to redeem the bonds. Never in my mind was the advance rental all about redemption,” he told the court.
Chew is among six church leaders, including CHC founder Kong Hee, accused of misusing S$24 million of church-building funds in Xtron to boost the pop music career of Ms Ho Yeow Sun, Kong’s wife.
Another S$26.6 million of church funds was then allegedly circulated through complex transactions — which the prosecution refers to as “round-tripping” — to clear the bonds off the church’s books to throw auditors off the scent.
One of these methods involved paying Xtron advance rent — through a licensing agreement worth S$46 million inked on October 2009 — for premises the church could use for its services.
Some of the money from the agreement was used to redeem the Xtron bonds, but Chew described their redemption as “secondary”. This was because he “did not think they were sham bonds and thought (Ms Ho’s) album sales will eventually come in and the bonds will be redeemed”, said Chew, who took the stand for the fourth day in the long-running trial.
He added that the funds were used to redeem the bonds at the church auditor’s “insistence”.
Chew said he had initially been fully supportive of the church’s Crossover project, aimed at reaching out to non-Christians through Ms Ho’s secular music. He even made a joint contribution of S$40,000 with a fellow church member for her travelling expenses in 2006.
“I told Pastor Kong that we are honoured to play our small part in the great work that God is doing through Sun, because I always believed that the Crossover was a work of God. It couldn’t turn into a conspiracy.”
Chew added that he had “laid down (his) life for the church” since joining CHC in 1995 and had given about S$600,000 in tithes and donations.
He said such “sacrifices” continued even when he was suffering from depression between 2007 and 2009, the time when the alleged conspiracy to cause losses to CHC was hatched.
Chew also shared a three-page spiritual journal with the court, where he related the multiple trials his family members had been going through during the same period, such as his wife’s near-death from deep vein thrombosis and when the United States subprime mortgage crisis caused him to be riddled with losses.
“Despite my condition, I put in all for the Crossover and property,” said Chew, who left CHC in 2013.
“I thought God was using me for His kingdom ... every day I did it for God and for Kong Hee, whom I thought was a man of God.”
Earlier this week, Chew told the court he only realised in recent years that the track record of Ms Ho’s singing career was “falsified” and that Kong had chosen not to disclose the lackadaisical progress of the Crossover project.
Kong’s lawyer Edwin Tong will cross-examine Chew tomorrow.
City Harvest accused: Sun Ho's singing success was fake (TNP: 28 Jan 2015)
Ms Ho Yeow Sun's success as a singer was not real, former City Harvest Church (CHC) fund manager Chew Eng Han testified in court on Tuesday.
He said that up to 70 per cent of her Mandarin album CDs had been bought by Xtron Productions, her artiste management firm that was linked to the church. This was to give Ms Ho the appearance of a successful track record.
Testifying in his defence, Chew also said that Ms Ho's personal assistant, Mr Mark Kwan, had sent an e-mail expressing his concern that she had just 1,000 genuine fans outside the church.
"I look at the evidence, the more I realised the success was not real. It was manipulated, in some cases falsified," he said.
Chew, 54, is the fourth accused to take the stand in the trial involving the six CHC leaders, including CHC founder and Ms Ho's husband, Kong Hee, who are accused of using church money to further Ms Ho's music career.
Yesterday, he presented e-mails to the court and said that up to 70 per cent of Ms Ho's Mandarin albums were purchased by Xtron, her management company.
He said: "When you buy up your own CDs, of course you don't make money. In fact, you incur production costs. So (2003 till 2006)...were all loss-making years despite Sun's apparent success."
GOING PLATINUM
He also presented another e-mail, sent in 2007, in which co-accused Serina Wee and Tan Ye Peng planned to channel funds to a church in Taiwan. From there, money would be passed back to CHC members to buy Ms Ho's CDs, he said.
"The total amount of money (mentioned in the e-mail) that is going to be used to purchase CDs is $197,000. If it is $10 per album, we are talking about 19,700 albums.
"I heard in testimony...by Kong Hee that platinum is about 20,000 copies. So with one stroke, Sun's album will hit platinum status."
Chew added that Kong had also instructed the church members to buy Ms Ho's fifth Mandarin album, Embrace, in an e-mail that was also brought up by the prosecution last August.
He presented another e-mail sent to Tan in February 2008 by Ms Ho's personal assistant, Mr Mark Kwan, who expressed his concern that Ms Ho was "very much considered a separate entity from the secular pop industry".
Mr Kwan had highlighted his concerns that Ms Ho had just 1,000 genuine fans outside the church, despite having toiled seven years in the Asian music scene.
He also said her concerts were attended mainly by church members and "we never leave any possible space for outsiders".
Chew said all these were carried out while keeping most people, including himself, in the dark, so that Ms Ho would appear successful and hence justify the investments for her foray into the US music market.
He maintained he had worked for the church after he was led to believe that Ms Ho's English album would generate huge earnings to pay back the money sunk into producing it.
"We invest based on track record. We invest based on past historical success. There's no other way, especially in projects like this. How else can we be certain that we put in $13 million in Xtron bonds that it's going to come back?"
And perhaps Ms Ho's falsified success was the reason that her English album was delayed for years, Chew said.
"In his own heart, in his own conscience, (Kong) knows Sun is not ready. If she launches a US album, it will be a flop," he added.
"Kong is saying that he has $2.5 million in his own personal account. Surely he should have faith in his own wife. Why doesn't he put his own money into the Crossover Project? Why does he need to risk the church money?
"Your money shouldn't have gone into your apartment at Sentosa...or to the KL (Kuala Lumpur) apartment," Chew said of Kong.
The trial continues today.
He said that up to 70 per cent of her Mandarin album CDs had been bought by Xtron Productions, her artiste management firm that was linked to the church. This was to give Ms Ho the appearance of a successful track record.
Testifying in his defence, Chew also said that Ms Ho's personal assistant, Mr Mark Kwan, had sent an e-mail expressing his concern that she had just 1,000 genuine fans outside the church.
"I look at the evidence, the more I realised the success was not real. It was manipulated, in some cases falsified," he said.
Chew, 54, is the fourth accused to take the stand in the trial involving the six CHC leaders, including CHC founder and Ms Ho's husband, Kong Hee, who are accused of using church money to further Ms Ho's music career.
Chew,
who is representing himself after discharging his lawyer last May, left
the church in 2013, reportedly citing "a collision of primarily
spiritual and moral principles".
Yesterday, he presented e-mails to the court and said that up to 70 per cent of Ms Ho's Mandarin albums were purchased by Xtron, her management company.
He said: "When you buy up your own CDs, of course you don't make money. In fact, you incur production costs. So (2003 till 2006)...were all loss-making years despite Sun's apparent success."
- See more at: http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/former-chc-fund-manager-sun-hos-success-was-not-real#sthash.HYqHLHoC.dpuf
Chew, who is representing himself after discharging his lawyer last May, left the church in 2013, reportedly citing "a collision of primarily spiritual and moral principles".Yesterday, he presented e-mails to the court and said that up to 70 per cent of Ms Ho's Mandarin albums were purchased by Xtron, her management company.
He said: "When you buy up your own CDs, of course you don't make money. In fact, you incur production costs. So (2003 till 2006)...were all loss-making years despite Sun's apparent success."
- See more at: http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/former-chc-fund-manager-sun-hos-success-was-not-real#sthash.HYqHLHoC.dpuf
Yesterday, he presented e-mails to the court and said that up to 70 per cent of Ms Ho's Mandarin albums were purchased by Xtron, her management company.
He said: "When you buy up your own CDs, of course you don't make money. In fact, you incur production costs. So (2003 till 2006)...were all loss-making years despite Sun's apparent success."
GOING PLATINUM
He also presented another e-mail, sent in 2007, in which co-accused Serina Wee and Tan Ye Peng planned to channel funds to a church in Taiwan. From there, money would be passed back to CHC members to buy Ms Ho's CDs, he said.
"The total amount of money (mentioned in the e-mail) that is going to be used to purchase CDs is $197,000. If it is $10 per album, we are talking about 19,700 albums.
"I heard in testimony...by Kong Hee that platinum is about 20,000 copies. So with one stroke, Sun's album will hit platinum status."
Chew added that Kong had also instructed the church members to buy Ms Ho's fifth Mandarin album, Embrace, in an e-mail that was also brought up by the prosecution last August.
He presented another e-mail sent to Tan in February 2008 by Ms Ho's personal assistant, Mr Mark Kwan, who expressed his concern that Ms Ho was "very much considered a separate entity from the secular pop industry".
Mr Kwan had highlighted his concerns that Ms Ho had just 1,000 genuine fans outside the church, despite having toiled seven years in the Asian music scene.
He also said her concerts were attended mainly by church members and "we never leave any possible space for outsiders".
Chew said all these were carried out while keeping most people, including himself, in the dark, so that Ms Ho would appear successful and hence justify the investments for her foray into the US music market.
He maintained he had worked for the church after he was led to believe that Ms Ho's English album would generate huge earnings to pay back the money sunk into producing it.
"We invest based on track record. We invest based on past historical success. There's no other way, especially in projects like this. How else can we be certain that we put in $13 million in Xtron bonds that it's going to come back?"
And perhaps Ms Ho's falsified success was the reason that her English album was delayed for years, Chew said.
"In his own heart, in his own conscience, (Kong) knows Sun is not ready. If she launches a US album, it will be a flop," he added.
"Kong is saying that he has $2.5 million in his own personal account. Surely he should have faith in his own wife. Why doesn't he put his own money into the Crossover Project? Why does he need to risk the church money?
"Your money shouldn't have gone into your apartment at Sentosa...or to the KL (Kuala Lumpur) apartment," Chew said of Kong.
The trial continues today.
Ms
Ho Yeow Sun's success as a singer was not real, former City Harvest
Church (CHC) fund manager Chew Eng Han testified in court on Tuesday.
He said that up to 70 per cent of her Mandarin album CDs had been bought by Xtron Productions, her artiste management firm that was linked to the church. This was to give Ms Ho the appearance of a successful track record.
Testifying in his defence, Chew also said that Ms Ho's personal assistant, Mr Mark Kwan, had sent an e-mail expressing his concern that she had just 1,000 genuine fans outside the church.
"I look at the evidence, the more I realised the success was not real. It was manipulated, in some cases falsified," he said.
Chew, 54, is the fourth accused to take the stand in the trial involving the six CHC leaders, including CHC founder and Ms Ho's husband, Kong Hee, who are accused of using church money to further Ms Ho's music career.
Read the full report in our print edition on Jan 28.
- See more at: http://www.tnp.sg/news/city-harvest-accused-sun-hos-singing-success-was-fake#sthash.IJBqeMnz.K2H2mo9B.dpuf
He said that up to 70 per cent of her Mandarin album CDs had been bought by Xtron Productions, her artiste management firm that was linked to the church. This was to give Ms Ho the appearance of a successful track record.
Testifying in his defence, Chew also said that Ms Ho's personal assistant, Mr Mark Kwan, had sent an e-mail expressing his concern that she had just 1,000 genuine fans outside the church.
"I look at the evidence, the more I realised the success was not real. It was manipulated, in some cases falsified," he said.
Chew, 54, is the fourth accused to take the stand in the trial involving the six CHC leaders, including CHC founder and Ms Ho's husband, Kong Hee, who are accused of using church money to further Ms Ho's music career.
Read the full report in our print edition on Jan 28.
- See more at: http://www.tnp.sg/news/city-harvest-accused-sun-hos-singing-success-was-fake#sthash.IJBqeMnz.K2H2mo9B.dpuf
28 Jan 2015 – Eng Han EIC (AM Session) (MrsLightnFriends: 29 Jan 2015)
Today (28 Jan 15) is day 3 of Mr. Chew
Eng Han on the stand. He told the judge that he should be able to finish
his evidence-in-chief by tomorrow. The cross-examination by the defence
counsel may start either on Friday or late Thursday afternoon on the
assumption that Mr. Chew finishes somewhere in the afternoon.
On 28 January 2015, Mr. Chew gave his evidences according to the following topics:
1. Increasing Xtron retainer or income to replace dependence on album sales. (AM session)
2. Eng Han spiritual experience and history in CHC (AM Session)
3. Eng Han own state of mind, on what he thought about the bonds, the crossover and the albums as an investment (AM Session)
4. Disclosure to board, auditors, EMs and public (AM Session)
5. Charlie Lay Incidents (PM session)
6. Kong Hee and Tan Ye Peng want discreet crossover; Eng Han prefers open
7. Motivation and initiation of bond redemption (PM session)
8. SOF Redemption (PM session)
1. Increasing Xtron retainer or income to replace dependence on album sales. (AM session)
2. Eng Han spiritual experience and history in CHC (AM Session)
3. Eng Han own state of mind, on what he thought about the bonds, the crossover and the albums as an investment (AM Session)
4. Disclosure to board, auditors, EMs and public (AM Session)
5. Charlie Lay Incidents (PM session)
6. Kong Hee and Tan Ye Peng want discreet crossover; Eng Han prefers open
7. Motivation and initiation of bond redemption (PM session)
8. SOF Redemption (PM session)
Topic – Increasing retainer or income to replace dependence on album sales
I understand that the prosecution has
touched on this area quite extensively, and for the sheer fact that, as
far as I believe, the act per seof increasing retainer income for Xtron
from CHC, to me it’s not a dishonest act as long as it’s approved by the
board. All of these increases that CHC has to pay to Xtron has to go
through the board. I was once on the board as well. But what to me is
important is the intention behind the variations in the income that CHC
is paying to Xtron, and what were their motivations for doing that.
Because therein lies the clue as to whether each individual really
expected album sales to come in.
I’m going to show as well that, in all these emails, I was not involved.
Exhibit 1 – Email between Serina and Tan Ye Peng
In this email they are discussing about Xtron cashflow. Very often, the discussion about increasing retainer has to do with Xtron cashflow problems. This happened even before the bonds were issued.
In this email they are discussing about Xtron cashflow. Very often, the discussion about increasing retainer has to do with Xtron cashflow problems. This happened even before the bonds were issued.
Exhibit 2 – The minutes of the board meeting of CHC on 15 Feb 2007
Point 3 of the minutes
Suraj informed the board that there were additional services, which CHC required Xtron Productions Pte Ltd to provide in 2007 for audio lighting, media and management services.
Chew said, “And, again, there is nothing wrong with this because, as
long as they set a rate that is reasonable compared to the market,
there’s no dishonesty or impropriety. “Suraj informed the board that there were additional services, which CHC required Xtron Productions Pte Ltd to provide in 2007 for audio lighting, media and management services.
Point 4 of the minutes
The Board discussed about the status of the cross-over project of Ms Sun Ho Yeow Sun. The Board expressed their continual support of the cross-over project and commended Sun for being willing to make great sacrifices in order to accomplish the will of God for her life. The Board agreed to continually hold Sun and her work in prayers and to do whatever is necessary to show our support to her as what she is doing is a very practical example of engaging Christ in culture.
The Board discussed about the status of the cross-over project of Ms Sun Ho Yeow Sun. The Board expressed their continual support of the cross-over project and commended Sun for being willing to make great sacrifices in order to accomplish the will of God for her life. The Board agreed to continually hold Sun and her work in prayers and to do whatever is necessary to show our support to her as what she is doing is a very practical example of engaging Christ in culture.
Chew said, “Your Honour, this is off the
main topic, but I thought this was important. Back then, even before
the bonds were issued, the board was for the Crossover, full support,
and they believed that they should give continual support because Sun
was making a great sacrifice for God, and that she is doing a great
work, a practical example of engaging Christ in culture.
……….
Whether it is direct funding or indirect funding, this is what point number 4 means. Implicit in this point, your Honour, is the fact that the church board would always support the Crossover, no matter whether it’s Xtron or Firna bond, it would support.”
……….
Whether it is direct funding or indirect funding, this is what point number 4 means. Implicit in this point, your Honour, is the fact that the church board would always support the Crossover, no matter whether it’s Xtron or Firna bond, it would support.”
Exhibit 3 – Email between Serina Wee and Tan Ye Peng Subject “Confidential”
Timeline: 31 January 2008, when most of the Xtron bonds had been drawn down.
Timeline: 31 January 2008, when most of the Xtron bonds had been drawn down.
TYP wrote:
2. If we sell 300k cd only, how are we going to get out of the situation for US project
…..
6. Who are the staffs we can cut from XPL without affecting the retainer?
8. Can we have the retainer between XPL and CHC (in terms of what XPL is doing for CHC) so I can see that the services the XPL will do for CHC is unaffected.Factored in Xtron cashflow, retainer of $140K a month only from Jan 08 onwards, took out Adrian, Jaslyn and Alicia’s salaries.
2. If we sell 300k cd only, how are we going to get out of the situation for US project
…..
6. Who are the staffs we can cut from XPL without affecting the retainer?
8. Can we have the retainer between XPL and CHC (in terms of what XPL is doing for CHC) so I can see that the services the XPL will do for CHC is unaffected.Factored in Xtron cashflow, retainer of $140K a month only from Jan 08 onwards, took out Adrian, Jaslyn and Alicia’s salaries.
Chew said, “The conversation doesn’t include me; it’s between Tan Ye Peng and Serina Wee.”
Exhibit 4 – Tan Ye Peng wrote to Kong Hee
Timeline: 15 February 2008, just after the Xtron bonds had been drawn down, almost fully.
Timeline: 15 February 2008, just after the Xtron bonds had been drawn down, almost fully.
TYP wrote:
Dear Pastor:
Sorry to get back to you so late. I have been working on this the last 2 days to find a way of not depending on CD sales to breakeven and repay the bonds.
….
So that leaves us with $6m to raise…… profit for XPL is $1.5m per year
Dear Pastor:
Sorry to get back to you so late. I have been working on this the last 2 days to find a way of not depending on CD sales to breakeven and repay the bonds.
….
So that leaves us with $6m to raise…… profit for XPL is $1.5m per year
Wahju gives $1m every year.
Chew said, “So here again, you have a
discussion between two of them. That what if CD sales don’t come in, how
are the bonds going to be redeemed? And they assume, again, 300,000
units being sold. In the end, they talk about property project, which I
was working on, and how Xtron would earn some consultancy fees for doing
the sound, the light and the visual, and the acoustics for the new
building. It talks about some advance rental as well. ….So they work out
a solution basically that Xtron needs to earn income every year, … and
hopefully Wahju can give $1m every year and they will make up for the
losses, if there are losses on the album.
The planning again does not include me, but it is between Kong Hee and Tan Ye Peng.”
The planning again does not include me, but it is between Kong Hee and Tan Ye Peng.”
Exhibit 4 – Email between Serina Wee, Kong Hee and Tan Ye Peng
Another email of planning to get extra income for Xtron for special events each year, such as Asia Conference, Christmas, Easter, for weekday Bible studies as well.
Another email of planning to get extra income for Xtron for special events each year, such as Asia Conference, Christmas, Easter, for weekday Bible studies as well.
Chew said, “So here you have a scene
where Serina Wee and Kong Hee are discussing is can there be more other
events that Xtron can do for CHC and earn more income?”
Exhibit 5 – Email from Serina Wee wrote to Kong Hee
Timeline: 16 July 2008.
Timeline: 16 July 2008.
Serina wrote:
If consider only 1 album (launched in 2009)
1. By end 2010, Xtron will have a profit of $3.6m for album 1 and a cash flow surplus of $0.2m ($0.3m) after redeeming the bonds & loans
2. Xtron will be able to repay the $16m bonds by end 2010
3. Dr Kong has already made provision to set aside $2m CHC general fund to give to Xtron via some projects.
If consider only 1 album (launched in 2009)
1. By end 2010, Xtron will have a profit of $3.6m for album 1 and a cash flow surplus of $0.2m ($0.3m) after redeeming the bonds & loans
2. Xtron will be able to repay the $16m bonds by end 2010
3. Dr Kong has already made provision to set aside $2m CHC general fund to give to Xtron via some projects.
Chew: “So, again, they are planning what
if the sales don’t come in as expected, how are the bonds going to be
repaid. And Dr Kong has already made a decision: provide $2m from CHC
justified to give to Xtron for projects. And basically, these are the
extra events, or maybe some mission trips that Kong Hee would make and
take some Xtron staff along with him (General Fund). Again I’m not in
this email, not involved in these discussions.”
Exhibit 6 – Email from Jacq Tan (wife of Tan Ye Peng) to Serina Wee
Timeline: 7 October 2008
<…. Eng Han read the email content….>
Timeline: 7 October 2008
<…. Eng Han read the email content….>
Chew: “So here, again, they have some plans to increase the retainer for Xtron.”
Exhibit 7 – Email from Sharon Tan to Kong Hee, Tan Ye Peng, Reverend Derek Dunn
Timeline: 23 March 2009
<…. Eng Han read the email content….>
Timeline: 23 March 2009
<…. Eng Han read the email content….>
Chew: “Here again you have Pastor Kong,
Tan Ye Peng and Serina Wee planning for retainer income to be either
lowered for a short term and then increased later on.”
Exhibit 8 – Email from Serina Wee to Sharon Tan and Kong Hee
Timeline: 18 July 2009, lost the first attempt to buy Suntec (Palm Oil)
Timeline: 18 July 2009, lost the first attempt to buy Suntec (Palm Oil)
Serina Wrote:
Hi Pastor,
If CHC gives Xtron rental deposits/advance rental of $51.5m $30m will be used for the capital injection for Palm Oil, remaining $21.5m will be used to redeem CHC bonds.
Hi Pastor,
If CHC gives Xtron rental deposits/advance rental of $51.5m $30m will be used for the capital injection for Palm Oil, remaining $21.5m will be used to redeem CHC bonds.
Then basically Xtron only needs to
charge CHC $100,000 retainer over the next 2 years (or as long as you
require) to cover it’s operational costs. Can remove all budgets for
events, like as if Xtron is doing for free.
Please note that CHC should try to help
Xtron earn the $13m used for crossover over the next few years, as we
also have to eventually clear this liability. The number of years we
want to take to do this is up to us.
Chew: “So there’s discretion and there’s
plans to adjust the retainer, depending on whether the property deal
comes in or not. Then she goes on to say can remove all budgets for
events like as if Xtron is doing for free. There’s an implication that
they have some discretion there….”
Exhibit 9 E-507 – There are many pages in this email exhibit.
Chew: “Your Honour, I’m bringing up this
exhibit because the public prosecutor on 29 September 2014, implicated
myself for being involved in this scheme to try to increase income for
Xtron so that the bonds can be repaid.”
Chew went on to read the relevant
section of this email that the DPP pulled his name to say that he had
been planning with the others to increase XPL retainer, service income
from extra events, even either to increase Palm oil rental so that they
could cover all the bonds that needed to be repaid.
Need to cover the following amounts
XPL Bonds
Firna bonds (+future $6m)
…
…
How to cover over 10 years?
Increase XPL retainer by $2m from Nov 2010 onwards
Increase events cost by $1m from Nov 2009 onwards
From CHC Building Fund:
Increase in Palm Oil Rental
Pastor, in order to justify for the amount that I pay XPL for its services, it cannot be too high. I feel that the most we can pay them is another $3.3m as show above.
Therefore, in order to cover for the remaining sum, we have to increase XPL profits from the Palm Oil rental by another $2m.
XPL Bonds
Firna bonds (+future $6m)
…
…
How to cover over 10 years?
Increase XPL retainer by $2m from Nov 2010 onwards
Increase events cost by $1m from Nov 2009 onwards
From CHC Building Fund:
Increase in Palm Oil Rental
Pastor, in order to justify for the amount that I pay XPL for its services, it cannot be too high. I feel that the most we can pay them is another $3.3m as show above.
Therefore, in order to cover for the remaining sum, we have to increase XPL profits from the Palm Oil rental by another $2m.
Chew: “…. your Honour, if you turn to
page 3 rather page 2 which is the beginning of this email, on page 2 the
email really between Sharon Tan and Tan Ye Peng on 23 November 2009,
12:07pm. By this time this was discussed, I had been dropped out from
the email chain. The last time I was in the email chain was on page 9.
At the top, there I have from Eng Han to Tan Shao Yuen Sharon 19
November 2009, 10:21am and subsequent to that I was dropped out of the
email. “
Mr. Chew went on to the next topic on his spiritual experience and history in CHC.Topic – Eng Han spiritual experience and history in CHC
Your Honour, I’d just like to relate
about my spiritual experience and history in CHC. I joined CHC in 1996. I
was not a believer before that. It was my first church. When I joined
CGC in 1996, the church congregation was only 1,300 people. By the end
of that year, it had more than doubled to 3000 people. My wife and
myself attended the church and got radically converted. We brought my
wife’s sister, my wife brothers into the same church, and they got
radically converted as well. In the first year when I was in church, I
was totally impressed with City Harvest, with Kong Hee and Sun Ho,
because it seemed like everything they did was successful. Not just
church ministry, but everything went on from excellence to excellence.
There was confidence in this church, that nothing was impossible. In
that same year, 1996, my wife went through some deliverance encounters.
And one of the persons who prayed for my wife was Sun Ho. She was the
first person to pray for my wife, and she went through about five
deliverance sessions in one year and she got set free. Our relationship
with Sun Ho started in the first year we joined the church.
By 1997, we had got my wife’s siblings
all saved. But at the end of 1997 Janet, my wife, brother Stephen, after
he was converted, he died in a Silkair crash. But Kong Hee and Sun Ho,
showed love and care, they sent a group of pastors, they sent Suraj,
Aries, Karen and they sent a team down with us to Palembang.
And so we knew from there that Kong Hee
and Sun are people who care, who have a heart. They conducted the
funeral service. And that was the end of 1997, and after that I became a
cell group leader in 1998. My wife’s mother had a cancer in the colon,
but, because of the word of God that Kong Hee taught us, we had faith
and we prayed for her mother, her mother got healed supernaturally. She
didn’t have to go for the operation that the surgeon insisted she had to
go, and she lived for more than 10 years after that. And that is why,
your Honour, I choose to serve Kong Hee and Sun, and to give my life to
the church.
When the building in Jurong West was
ready in 2011, we had raised the Building Fund during the financial
crisis, the whole church was proud of it. And, like I say, it seems like
nothing CHC does can ever go wrong. So when 2002 Sun was commissioned
by the board to crossover, and Kong Hee told us that he had a vision
from God, and that there great man of God confirmed it for him – his
mentors, by then I had been at the church for six to seven years. I
experienced a lot in this church.
There’s no reason for me, your Honour,
to doubt that this project will succeed as well. I have faith in God. I
have faith in Kong Hee and Sun as well. And so the Crossover started in
2002, and in 2003, when Roland Poon complaint to the press, of course,
my first reaction is he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. If he
knows that God in this place, then he wouldn’t have said that. and true
enough, when he confessed, he said that, “I’m so sorry, I think the
devil has used me to destroy this church”. So after battling this, the
press in 2003, because they were attacking Sun relentlessly, not just
during Roland Poon but subsequent to that, there were articles about how
Sun was wearing a red dress that was so revealing while she was
attending a Hollywood event. I believe in her so much, I actually called
up the editor, I can’t remember which paper and I scolded him. I said,
“You don’t know who you are attacking. She is sent by God.” He
threatened to write even more about her, and I said, “You go ahead. I
dare you to write”. And thank God he didn’t write the next morning.
The reason why I fought for Kong and Sun
is because I believe, your Honour, that God was in the house and the
church. God was with them, I trusted, I never believed that the monies
would be unwisely spent or recklessly spent, because these men had a
vision from God and, surely, the holy spirit would guide him.
And so if I’m asked why didn’t I do due
diligence and all that, no one does due diligence on his own spiritual
father, the senior pastor. Was there a reason for me to doubt? Actually,
yes, your Honour, honestly I should have doubted, by the time the
amounts had flown up, the $24m. Perhaps I should. But with the
experience I had with Kong Hee and Sun, and the spiritual authority and
relationship, and the trust that I had developed in him, I think that
was more overwhelming than my own natural mind. That if the budget is
originally supposed to be $13m and it goes up by another 11, I think a
normal fund manager would start to ask questions. But, yes, I didn’t.
But did I suspect that the monies would
be spent unwisely? No, I didn’t. I thought the project was getting
bigger, there’ll be more albums, more merchandise being sold, more
concert tours and all that, and, surely, that would require a bigger
budget. But with a bigger budget, the revenue would increase as well.
Your Honour, I’m now going on to the next section, which is my own state of mind.
27 Jan 2015 – Eng Han EIC (PM session) – EH’s trust in Kong Hee, Sun Ho’s honour and integrity (MrsLightnFriends: 29 Jan 2015)
Topic – EH’s trust in Kong Hee, Sun Ho’s honour and integrity
Eng Han opened the first email exhibit (E-783 dated 18 November 2009)
This email was written after Xtron bonds
had been drawn down, Firna bonds was already in place. The advance
rental had already happened as well.
The chain of this email was Dr. Albert
(the same pastor that Roland Poon spoke to) wrote to Kong Hee and sent
him an article from the Star.
The
tile is “Crisis rocks Calvary Church”, and this is the church in KL.
The article talks about how, in the first line, the Calvary church is
rocked with controversy over alleged mismanagement of funds. And there’s
a group of church members, who call themselves the Truth, Transparency
and Good Governance Group, or TTG that they are demanding for
accountability and transparency over the use of church funds from the
Calvary
Church’s Board of Deacons (BOD) led by senior pastor (SP) Rev. Tan Sri Prince Guneratnam……. The disagreement, among others, includes the rising construction costs of the Calvary Convention Centre at Bukit Jalil, alleged transfer of substantial funds from the church into the accounts of a personal ministry headed by the SP without members’ knowledge, poor financial management, claims of nepotism, and the sacking of a well-respected deacon for speaking out.
Church’s Board of Deacons (BOD) led by senior pastor (SP) Rev. Tan Sri Prince Guneratnam……. The disagreement, among others, includes the rising construction costs of the Calvary Convention Centre at Bukit Jalil, alleged transfer of substantial funds from the church into the accounts of a personal ministry headed by the SP without members’ knowledge, poor financial management, claims of nepotism, and the sacking of a well-respected deacon for speaking out.
Pastor Kong then forwarded this to Tan
Ye Peng, Derek Dunn, Aries, Meng How and Eng Han. He says: “fyi … sad….
Prince Guneratnam is a good man. I doubt if the allegations are true.”
So here we have a situation of a church,
also a high-profile church, into its building project as well, just
like CHC, over the alleged mismanagement of building fund and some
allegations about possible personal benefit as well. Kong Hee than
stands for Prince Guneratnam’s integrity. and to me, what Kong Hee said,
that Prince Guneratnam is a good man, it counts a lot to me, because I
trusted in Kong Hee’s integrity. And this was after all the bonds had
been done. The round-tripping is over, or it’s all in progress, and your
Honour, I don’t think that it is possible for co-conspirators, who have
done so many sham bonds and sham transactions, to be discussing whether
Prince is a good man or not, because if all of us were equally bad or
even worst than Prince, we wouldn’t be commenting on him like this.
Tan Ye Peng at the top of the email wrote:
Eng Han, we have to be ready for complaint…
So we cannot just take it for granted about the advance rental to XPL.
So we cannot just take it for granted about the advance rental to XPL.
Tan Ye Peng is now talking about the
ARLA that has just been done. But, your Honour, if this was a conspiracy
to defraud the auditors, I don’t think Tan Ye Peng will call it a
complaint. A complaint is done by people who may not understand the
nature of the transactions and start to grumble, some of them louder
than others. But, certainly, if it was a conspiracy to defraud auditors,
I don’t think TYP would have called it a complaint. He will have said
something like, “We’d better be ready in case we get exposed”.
Your Honour, it’s very difficult for each of us to present our state of mind when the transactions were done, but I think it’s little clues like this that tells us from the language used whether all six of us were in a conspiracy or not.
Your Honour, it’s very difficult for each of us to present our state of mind when the transactions were done, but I think it’s little clues like this that tells us from the language used whether all six of us were in a conspiracy or not.
I value Kong Hee’s assessment of Prince,
and if Kong Hee had been doing bad things, evil things, I would have
probably replied to him, “Hey, who are you to comment about Prince,
whether he’s a good man?” It just doesn’t make sense.
Eng Han opened the next email exhibit (E-787)
Kong Hee wrote to all his staffs and to the board as well, and he copied to Eng Han.
Eng Han opened the next email exhibit (E-787)
Kong Hee wrote to all his staffs and to the board as well, and he copied to Eng Han.
Dear All,
Sun has an important audition for the Beijing Olympics this coming Friday, Feb 29, and she is down with a full-blown flu. (Dayan is also down with severe cold and mild ear infection.)
Sun has an important audition for the Beijing Olympics this coming Friday, Feb 29, and she is down with a full-blown flu. (Dayan is also down with severe cold and mild ear infection.)
Along the way, when Sun has important
events relating to the Crossover, now and then we will get updates,
including myself. And as I receive these updates, to me, these are all
validation of the work that Sun was doing, that it was real, she is
progressing, God is blessing her work and God is opening up doors for
her, to such an extent that she was invited to an audition to sing at
the Beijing Olympics.
Eng Han went on to read the next page of the email, Kong Hee wrote:
This
Friday, Jackie Chan and a number of TV and news media will be there for
the audition. Sun is supposed to sing 2 songs. She is hyper-stressed.
Her body is struggling with fatigue and exhaustion from her US concert
tour and recording.
So this thing tells us that there is
real work being done in the US. She tried, she is working very hard with
her recording of concert tours. She has opened doors to meet with
superstars like Jackie Chan. All this speaks of success, or potential
success.
Eng Han continue to read the email, Kong Hee wrote:
Eng Han continue to read the email, Kong Hee wrote:
Please pray fervently for her full recovery and anointed performance.
Again, your Honour, if we had been in conspiracy for a couple of
years, I don’t see how a co-conspirator could ask another one to pray
fervently. If everything was a sham, what is there to pray for?
The last line of the email wrote:
Thanks a lot for your love and support for Sun. Please pray a lot for her.
The language that is being used speaks of a relationship of love and trust, a common belief in a common cause.The top of the email chain, Eng Han replied to Kong’s email:
Don’t mention, Pastor. I know how hard it is for Sun, this is what we need to do for her, pray.
And I honestly believed that Sun was
doing lots of work, it was good work. This email not just gives clues as
to, from the language used, whether there was, indeed, a conspiracy. It
also talks about the relationship I had or I thought I had with Kong
Hee and Sun, the belief that I had, that this work that she set out to
do was a good work that will be blessed by God and as we pray and have
faith, the Crossover Project will succeed.
Eng Han opened another email exhibit (E-790 dated 11 October 2009).
Sun Ho wrote to Eng Han:
Eng Han opened another email exhibit (E-790 dated 11 October 2009).
Sun Ho wrote to Eng Han:
Eng Han and Janet,
Please know that I’m praying for Clair’s quick recovery all the way from LA!
Clair is my daughter and she had a lump in her neck and we were
worried about it, and Sun was showing love and concern for my family.
This is October 2009, right in the middle of the ARLA. I replied:
“Thanks. Got to pray it is just a lymph node infection.”Please know that I’m praying for Clair’s quick recovery all the way from LA!
Eng Han opened a blackberry message exhibit (BB-80). This is an email from Kong Hee to Eng Han.
Kong Hee wrote on 28 May 2010 at 1.30
Sun is super discouraged by the blogs. She feels shamed publicly. I am so sad.
This was 28 May. This is three days before the CAD raid and there are
bloggers out there attacking Sun, attacking her abilities as a singer,
among other attacks.Eng Han replied:
These
are the minority who try to amplify their few voices. Do let Sun know
the truth is that we have thousands in and outside the church who
support and love her.
At this point, I still believe Sun had popularity, that she had
thousands of fans inside the church and outside the church as well and
whatever critic she had did not form the majority but the minority.
That’s how much faith and belief I had in Sun and in Kong Hee.Kong Hee replied to Eng Han:
She
feels all that her hard work is being publicly rubbished by these
bloggers, especially by the insinuations that she is a failure as a
singer who can’t sell albums!”
That got me mad, because I didn’t agree with that. Then I replied:
They are evil and want exactly to tear her down… we got to track them down.
That’s show how much conviction I had in this Crossover, in Kong Hee
and Sun, that, if anyone were to falsely accuse them or attack their
integrity or Sun’s ability, I was ready to pay a private investigator to
go and track down who these bloggers are, using my own money. On top of
that, I then write to Sun to comfort her:
Dear Sun,
Don’t think too much about these minority bloggers. They (only a handful) speak with malice but without full knowledge of the thing they attack, be it Suntec, AMAC, Xtron or yourself.
Your Honour, up to this stage, three days before the CAD raid, I
still don’t think that whatever people were saying about AMAC or Suntec
or Sun or Xtron, that there was no basis for whatever they were accusing
us of, because, in my mind, they don’t have full knowledge of what we
were actually trying to achieve.Don’t think too much about these minority bloggers. They (only a handful) speak with malice but without full knowledge of the thing they attack, be it Suntec, AMAC, Xtron or yourself.
Eng Han went on to tell Sun
We
showed videos of your works at Asia Conference and it touched everyone,
and that’s the real stuff that you are to the majority.
And I held that frame of mind from 2002, when the Crossover first started, all the way to this time, 28 May 2010.
JIMMY YIM AND THE CONFESSION LETTER:
Your Honour, I will turn to CEH-24 again (4.5 hours conversation exhibit), page 4, lines 13 to 20. This is about the confession letter, and when I met with Kong Hee and Sun with my wife, we did talk about this.
Your Honour, I will turn to CEH-24 again (4.5 hours conversation exhibit), page 4, lines 13 to 20. This is about the confession letter, and when I met with Kong Hee and Sun with my wife, we did talk about this.
Kong Hee says: “… Jimmy Yim told me: You better come clean. He got me to write a confession letter, are you aware of that?”
Then I said: “Hmm.”
Kong Hee said:
“I wrote the confession letter. He asked me, he says: Look, take the full responsibility for everybody. I wrote the letter based on what Jimmy Yim told me. I said let everyone go.“
“I wrote the confession letter. He asked me, he says: Look, take the full responsibility for everybody. I wrote the letter based on what Jimmy Yim told me. I said let everyone go.“
At this time, your Honour, I knew the —
about the existence of the confession letter, because Wahju Hanafi had
told me, when he was trying to convince me to get back to the team, and
he conveyed about the same message to me, that Kong Hee was willing to
take full responsibility. And now Kong Hee tells me personally, and even
said that he told CAD to let everyone go.
And up to this point in this
conversation, I still believed him. Although I discovered something
about KL, I still chose to put my trust in him. But when I saw the
confession letter in court, I didn’t see any part where it says “let everyone go”. And
in the course of my discoveries, your Honour, from February 2013 up to
today, I do find that there have been exaggerations, half-truths; things
that are said are not what they really were. I put my trust in him. I
fought for him and his wife, but I think perhaps it was a mistake.
……..
“Hey, that confession letter that you said you wrote, where is it right now?”
He said, “With Jimmy Yim”. Because if it’s with Jimmy Yim — and at that time, I was still on good terms with Kong Hee –
“If it is with him, you’d better get it back from him and ask him what did you write in the letter? Where is it?”
And now I’m recalling back, because my frame of mind keeps changing as events keep happening, and at that time I still trusted him. But now, when I recall back and I — when I asked that question, “Where is it? What did you write in it?”, and I didn’t get any answer from him. He looked at me with a blank stare and didn’t give me a good answer, and that is one of the reasons why I thought that there was really a confession letter being written.
……..And now I’m recalling back, because my frame of mind keeps changing as events keep happening, and at that time I still trusted him. But now, when I recall back and I — when I asked that question, “Where is it? What did you write in it?”, and I didn’t get any answer from him. He looked at me with a blank stare and didn’t give me a good answer, and that is one of the reasons why I thought that there was really a confession letter being written.
I’ve known Pastor Kong to be someone
that keeps things that are important. He will keep copies of it he will
keep a soft copy of it. I remember when I went on mission trip with
him, he told me that every prophecy that was spoken to him, he has it on
his computer. And I’m surprised that a confession letter like this,
that’s so important, that he will testify in court that he only has a
hard copy and he doesn’t know where the soft copy is.
If Jimmy forgot (to bring the confession letter to the CAD), he could have just used his phone, asked somebody to bring it down.
If Jimmy forgot (to bring the confession letter to the CAD), he could have just used his phone, asked somebody to bring it down.
WHETHER CHURCH FUNDS WERE USED:
There were two occasions when Kong Hee said no church funds were used: one was after the Roland Poon saga in 2003; and one was at a special meeting of the executive members, just before the CAD raid, and that’s in 2010.
In 2010, by then, we had already — the church had already invested in the Xtron bonds and Firna bonds and the proceeds had gone into the Crossover. So, at that meeting, apparently, Pastor Kong told the executive members that no church funds had ever been used for
the Crossover, and he said that in 2010. However, I was at that meeting, but I didn’t hear it. …….
And basically that’s what Mr Foong did
say to Kong Hee, that, if it’s borrowed, if Xtron had borrowed money
from church but Xtron pays it back, then Mr Foong said, “Yes,
technically, church funds have not been used”, and I’ll testify to the
accuracy of that, which
I believe Kong Hee testified as well. But, really, your Honour, the important part of it is not whether, in the end the — it’s not — what is the result of the debate, whether it is used or not used, is not important. It’s really the intention behind it.
I believe Kong Hee testified as well. But, really, your Honour, the important part of it is not whether, in the end the — it’s not — what is the result of the debate, whether it is used or not used, is not important. It’s really the intention behind it.
Your Honour, I’d like to clarify, before lunch I related the Roland Poon incident and about how
the statement was made that “no church funds were used”, and I say that, today, we can’t say that no church funds were used in relation to 2003. And the reason is this: at that time in 2003, I believed Kong Hee’s version, which is that Wahju Hanafi intended his Building Fund money — or, rather, his monies, $1.3 million – it wasn’t meant for Building Fund, he had intended it, from the start, to be used to finance the Crossover, and that a mistake had been made, probably by the accounts people, who thought that it was for Building Fund.
And, therefore, to reflect his original intention, it is right, then, to reverse out of whatever errors there are and to put the money into whichever vehicle was doing the Crossover. And I agreed then in 2003 that no church funds were used.
Today I have a different frame of mind, because when I recollect the chain of events, that Pastor Kong told me that Wahju intended it, the money, to be for the Crossover, he never meant it for the Building Fund, but when I see how he testified in court, your Honour, and he detached himself from the scene and he came up with a story where he said the board were discussing about this and one of them remembered that it was Wahju that wanted to contribute, it raises question marks in my mind. Because if that was what really happened, and Wahju really intended it for the Crossover, what is there to hide? And if you were the one that asked Wahju and confirmed, then just say it as it is. Why do stories have to be twisted and cooked up?
Perhaps it was never so that Wahju intended it originally for the Crossover; he did intend it for the Building Fund. Perhaps things will change, so that the statement could be made that no church funds were used for the Crossover.
the statement was made that “no church funds were used”, and I say that, today, we can’t say that no church funds were used in relation to 2003. And the reason is this: at that time in 2003, I believed Kong Hee’s version, which is that Wahju Hanafi intended his Building Fund money — or, rather, his monies, $1.3 million – it wasn’t meant for Building Fund, he had intended it, from the start, to be used to finance the Crossover, and that a mistake had been made, probably by the accounts people, who thought that it was for Building Fund.
And, therefore, to reflect his original intention, it is right, then, to reverse out of whatever errors there are and to put the money into whichever vehicle was doing the Crossover. And I agreed then in 2003 that no church funds were used.
Today I have a different frame of mind, because when I recollect the chain of events, that Pastor Kong told me that Wahju intended it, the money, to be for the Crossover, he never meant it for the Building Fund, but when I see how he testified in court, your Honour, and he detached himself from the scene and he came up with a story where he said the board were discussing about this and one of them remembered that it was Wahju that wanted to contribute, it raises question marks in my mind. Because if that was what really happened, and Wahju really intended it for the Crossover, what is there to hide? And if you were the one that asked Wahju and confirmed, then just say it as it is. Why do stories have to be twisted and cooked up?
Perhaps it was never so that Wahju intended it originally for the Crossover; he did intend it for the Building Fund. Perhaps things will change, so that the statement could be made that no church funds were used for the Crossover.
In
the course of these proceedings, I’ve seen how evidence has been shaped
— in some cases, created – to suit a certain line of defence.
City Harvest trial: Sun Ho called as defence witness (TNP: 26 Jan 2015)
SINGAPORE -She is the central figure in one of the longest-running trials in Singapore.
Millions of dollars - taken from church funds - were allegedly misused to fund her music career. More money was then allegedly used to cover up the original amount.
And Ms Ho Yeow Sun, 42, may appear in court and testify as the trial against the six City Harvest Church (CHC) leaders resumes today.
She was called as a defence witnesses by former church leader Chew Eng Han, who is expected to take the stand to present his defence today.
Chew, along with CHC founder Kong Hee and four others, are accused of misusing millions in church funds.
First, $24 million from the church's building fund was allegedly used to fund Ms Ho's albums through sham bonds invested in two "shell companies" - music production firm Xtron Productions and glass manufacturer Firna.
Another $26.6 million was used to allegedly cover up the $24 million.
Kong, former board member John Lam, finance manager Sharon Tan, former fund manager Chew, deputy senior pastor Tan Ye Peng and former finance manager Serina Wee face charges of criminal breach of trust and/or falsifying accounts.
They were charged in 2012.
BIDDING
Since the start of the trial, prosecutors have sought to show how Xtron and Firna directors simply did the accused's bidding.
The defence has argued that the transactions were legitimate, with the accused acting "in good faith" on the advice of lawyers and auditors.
The trial, which has gone on for 88 days, is already turning into one of the longest-running trials here.
Kong, Lam and Sharon Tan have testified.
Chew, who is unrepresented after discharging his lawyer in last May, is next on the witness stand.
The remaining two church leaders, Wee and Tan Ye Peng, will give their defence after him.
Chew reportedly left the church in June 2013 after 17 years, citing "a collision of primarily spiritual and moral principles".
The former church stalwart and investment manager has not held back when he cross-examined his co-accused last year.
Most notably, he accused Kong of lying to church members when Kong took the stand last August.
"One of the reasons why I left your church is because when I look at this, I realise that you deceived... the people who are closest to you," he had said.
Chew is also facing a separate, pending civil suit by CHC for $21 million.
Millions of dollars - taken from church funds - were allegedly misused to fund her music career. More money was then allegedly used to cover up the original amount.
And Ms Ho Yeow Sun, 42, may appear in court and testify as the trial against the six City Harvest Church (CHC) leaders resumes today.
She was called as a defence witnesses by former church leader Chew Eng Han, who is expected to take the stand to present his defence today.
Chew, along with CHC founder Kong Hee and four others, are accused of misusing millions in church funds.
First, $24 million from the church's building fund was allegedly used to fund Ms Ho's albums through sham bonds invested in two "shell companies" - music production firm Xtron Productions and glass manufacturer Firna.
Another $26.6 million was used to allegedly cover up the $24 million.
Kong, former board member John Lam, finance manager Sharon Tan, former fund manager Chew, deputy senior pastor Tan Ye Peng and former finance manager Serina Wee face charges of criminal breach of trust and/or falsifying accounts.
They were charged in 2012.
BIDDING
Since the start of the trial, prosecutors have sought to show how Xtron and Firna directors simply did the accused's bidding.
The defence has argued that the transactions were legitimate, with the accused acting "in good faith" on the advice of lawyers and auditors.
The trial, which has gone on for 88 days, is already turning into one of the longest-running trials here.
Kong, Lam and Sharon Tan have testified.
Chew, who is unrepresented after discharging his lawyer in last May, is next on the witness stand.
The remaining two church leaders, Wee and Tan Ye Peng, will give their defence after him.
Chew reportedly left the church in June 2013 after 17 years, citing "a collision of primarily spiritual and moral principles".
The former church stalwart and investment manager has not held back when he cross-examined his co-accused last year.
Most notably, he accused Kong of lying to church members when Kong took the stand last August.
"One of the reasons why I left your church is because when I look at this, I realise that you deceived... the people who are closest to you," he had said.
Chew is also facing a separate, pending civil suit by CHC for $21 million.
SINGAPORE -She is the central figure in one of the longest-running trials in Singapore.
Millions of dollars - taken from church funds - were allegedly misused to fund her music career. More money was then allegedly used to cover up the original amount.
And Ms Ho Yeow Sun, 42, may appear in court and testify as the trial against the six City Harvest Church (CHC) leaders resumes today.
She was called as a defence witnesses by former church leader Chew Eng Han, who is expected to take the stand to present his defence today.
Chew, along with CHC founder Kong Hee and four others, are accused of misusing millions in church funds.
First, $24 million from the church's building fund was allegedly used to fund Ms Ho's albums through sham bonds invested in two "shell companies" - music production firm Xtron Productions and glass manufacturer Firna.
Another $26.6 million was used to allegedly cover up the $24 million.
Kong, former board member John Lam, finance manager Sharon Tan, former fund manager Chew, deputy senior pastor Tan Ye Peng and former finance manager Serina Wee face charges of criminal breach of trust and/or falsifying accounts.
They were charged in 2012.
- See more at: http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/city-harvest-trial-sun-ho-called-defence-witness#sthash.rZudyKd0.dpuf
Millions of dollars - taken from church funds - were allegedly misused to fund her music career. More money was then allegedly used to cover up the original amount.
And Ms Ho Yeow Sun, 42, may appear in court and testify as the trial against the six City Harvest Church (CHC) leaders resumes today.
She was called as a defence witnesses by former church leader Chew Eng Han, who is expected to take the stand to present his defence today.
Chew, along with CHC founder Kong Hee and four others, are accused of misusing millions in church funds.
First, $24 million from the church's building fund was allegedly used to fund Ms Ho's albums through sham bonds invested in two "shell companies" - music production firm Xtron Productions and glass manufacturer Firna.
Another $26.6 million was used to allegedly cover up the $24 million.
Kong, former board member John Lam, finance manager Sharon Tan, former fund manager Chew, deputy senior pastor Tan Ye Peng and former finance manager Serina Wee face charges of criminal breach of trust and/or falsifying accounts.
They were charged in 2012.
- See more at: http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/city-harvest-trial-sun-ho-called-defence-witness#sthash.rZudyKd0.dpuf
SINGAPORE -She is the central figure in one of the longest-running trials in Singapore.
Millions of dollars - taken from church funds - were allegedly misused to fund her music career. More money was then allegedly used to cover up the original amount.
And Ms Ho Yeow Sun, 42, may appear in court and testify as the trial against the six City Harvest Church (CHC) leaders resumes today.
She was called as a defence witnesses by former church leader Chew Eng Han, who is expected to take the stand to present his defence today.
Chew, along with CHC founder Kong Hee and four others, are accused of misusing millions in church funds.
First, $24 million from the church's building fund was allegedly used to fund Ms Ho's albums through sham bonds invested in two "shell companies" - music production firm Xtron Productions and glass manufacturer Firna.
Another $26.6 million was used to allegedly cover up the $24 million.
Kong, former board member John Lam, finance manager Sharon Tan, former fund manager Chew, deputy senior pastor Tan Ye Peng and former finance manager Serina Wee face charges of criminal breach of trust and/or falsifying accounts.
They were charged in 2012.
- See more at: http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/city-harvest-trial-sun-ho-called-defence-witness#sthash.rZudyKd0.dpuf
Millions of dollars - taken from church funds - were allegedly misused to fund her music career. More money was then allegedly used to cover up the original amount.
And Ms Ho Yeow Sun, 42, may appear in court and testify as the trial against the six City Harvest Church (CHC) leaders resumes today.
She was called as a defence witnesses by former church leader Chew Eng Han, who is expected to take the stand to present his defence today.
Chew, along with CHC founder Kong Hee and four others, are accused of misusing millions in church funds.
First, $24 million from the church's building fund was allegedly used to fund Ms Ho's albums through sham bonds invested in two "shell companies" - music production firm Xtron Productions and glass manufacturer Firna.
Another $26.6 million was used to allegedly cover up the $24 million.
Kong, former board member John Lam, finance manager Sharon Tan, former fund manager Chew, deputy senior pastor Tan Ye Peng and former finance manager Serina Wee face charges of criminal breach of trust and/or falsifying accounts.
They were charged in 2012.
- See more at: http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/city-harvest-trial-sun-ho-called-defence-witness#sthash.rZudyKd0.dpuf
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Advance rent was not a disguise: Chew Eng Han (Today: 29 Jan 2015)
The S$46 million lump sum City Harvest Church pumped into audio-visual firm Xtron Productions as “advance rental” in October 2009 was indeed intended for Xtron to secure a property for the church, said former church investment manager Chew Eng Han this morning (Jan 29).
“Never in my mind was advanced rental all about redemption (of the unquoted bonds),” Chew told the Court as he took the stand for the fourth day in the long-running trial.
He added that some of the funds were used to offset the bonds as a “natural consequence...based on accounting logic”.
Chew is among six church leaders accused of misusing S$24 million of church-building funds to buy sham bonds in Xtron and Indonesian firm PT The First National Glassware (Firna). Another S$26.6 million of church funds was allegedly circulated through complex transactions - a process the prosecution refers to as “round-tripping” - to create false appearances that the purported sham bonds had been redeemed.
Chew argued that the primary priority of the advance rent was to equip Xtron with financial capability to negotiate with bankers and vendors, so as to secure a suitable property for the church. Among the sites Chew was looking at include Capitol Theatre and the then-defunct Hollywood Theatre beside Lion City Hotel.
Redemption of bonds was secondary, he said, adding that he “saw no urgency” because “did not think they were sham bonds and thought album sales will eventually come in and the bonds will be redeemed”.
Contending the prosecution’s charge that accounts were falsified, Chew said that at the end of the “round trip”, there was neither gain not loss in CHC’s balance sheet but simply a restructuring of its investment assets.
27 Jan 2015 - Eng Han EIC (PM Session) - Sun's success: True or False? (MrsLightnFriends: 29 Jan 2015)
Mr Chew Eng Han produced substantial evidence in court to show that Sun’s success in the music industry had been falsified.
Self-purchase of albums
2003 – Attributes Pte Ltd (APL) buys “Sunday” CDs
An email from Serina Wee to Wong Foong Ming and Tan Ye Peng on 6 November 2003 showed Wee discussing “Matters to resolve”, one of them being “Issue 2 – APL‘s profit & loss statement will show a loss of $582K…”
Also, “There was an increase in the publicity expenses & purchase of CDs through APL in the beginning of 2003 for Sunday album. We still have quite some stock left.”
Chew said, “Your Honour, I wasn’t deeply involved in all this, but, from my understanding in the course of proceedings, when I look through the evidence and when I see how APL loses money, despite the high sales of the album, we have very high revenue from album sales and yet APL is losing money. I figure out there may be probably one or two reasons, but one of the reasons is probably that the reason why there’s no profits, despite the huge sales, is because many of the albums were self-purchased. In other words, whichever entity was producing the album was using its own money to buy up the CDs.
And when you buy up your own CDs, of course, you don’t make money — in fact, you incur costs, you incur production costs. So for each year, I think 2002, 2003, and subsequently for Xtron 2004, 2005, 2006, they were all loss-making years, despite Sun’s apparent success, and I believe it’s because much of the money was actually used to buy up the CDs.”
“And this is important, your Honour, because we invest based on track record. We invest based on past historical success. There’s no other way, especially in projects like this.”
But in the course of the proceedings, the more I look at the evidence, the more I realise that the success is not real. It was manipulated, in some cases falsified, and the worst is this, your Honour: we were supposed to be a church. Each time we celebrated her success, Kong Hee would go on stage and say, “Praise the Lord. God is good. God has opened up doors for her. We have the favour of God upon Sun”.
The people have been spiritually deceived as well; they have been short-changed of their faith. And I don’t know which is worse: the money or the faith.
2004 – CHC buys “Lonely Travel” CDs
The next email from Serina Wee to Tan Ye Peng on 2 August 2004 encloses a letter to Foong Daw Ching, saying:
“I’m writing to you to followup on the last meeting we had regarding the purchase of ‘Lonely travel’ CDs from Xtron Productions by CHC … Xtron’s directors met up last week to discuss this issue and they have decided to buy the ‘Lonely travel’ CDs at $13.50/CD rather than the value of $4.50/CD …”
Chew said he was on the board at that time, and most of the board were led to believe that this was the “the end of the season sale for the CD ‘Lonely Travel’ and that there were leftover CDs and that as a means of outreach, could the church buy over the CDs and give it out to believers or non-believers to bless them and to — as a form of outreach to them. And the board approved it.”
However, the board was also given the impression that excluding this purchase by the church, the album itself had already been a big hit. Chew recalled that when asked how many CDs is considered good, Kong mentioned something like 100,000 CDs.
Chew never suspected that majority of the sales were self-purchased as he trusted Kong Hee, Tan Ye Peng and Sun.
2007 – CHC buys CDs through New Life Church
An email from Serina Wee to Tan Ye Peng on 15 March 2007 showed them planning for CDs to be self-purchased again, this time through New Life Church, a church in Taiwan that is affiliated to City Harvest Church, and whose senior pastor is very close to Kong Hee.
Serina writes:
“Hi TYP,
I have worked out the proposed people to give all their 2007 sponsorship for CDs. We will tell them that actually New Life Church has set aside the money to buy CDs but because they can’t justify all the expenses from 5L2F, that’s why they are giving the money to Xtron in some other means and we need these individuals to indicate to Xtron that their sponsorship in 2007 is meant for purchase of CDs. Actually, the best is for them to give to a separate non-Xtron account and from there we transfer the money over to Taiwan to buy CDs so this is not captured anywhere and we don’t need to justify to the auditors.”
The email includes a table of individuals from City Harvest Singapore involved in this self-purchase of CDs amounting to $197,000, of which the funds would come from either City Harvest or Xtron. Chew analysed that assuming each album costs $10, that would translate to 19,700 albums being self-purchased. Kong testified earlier in court that to reach platinum status, an album required sales of 20,000 CDs. “So with one stroke, Sun’s album will hit platinum status.”
Your Honour, if this was only one, a one-time thing, maybe it can be overlooked, but it seems like there’s more than one occasion. And in the end, was it a conspiracy to structure sham bonds or was it a different conspiracy, to show up Sun’s image, to boost her success, her sales, to falsify her success?
2007 – CHC members buy CDs
On yet another occasion, the church’s leaders planned the self-purchase of CDs. Chew referred to an email sent by Kong Hee this time, to Pastor Derek Dunn, Pastor Tan Ye Peng, Pastor Aries and Meng How in April 2007, a few months before the Xtron bonds were issued.
This is the structure of the church:
Church –> Zones –> Zone Pastor –> Zone Supervisor –> Cell Group Leaders –> Cell Group Members
“Really, what Kong Hee was trying to do was to get his zone pastors to coordinate, to buy up CDs and to actually set targets for each zone, so that they could achieve a certain number of purchase of CDs.”
Kong writes:
“Just for comparison sake, Wayne Chang’s youth group of 400 members bought 3,000 units …
Kevin Loo’s church of 900 members purchased 6,000 units.
These ministries are in ‘abject poverty’ compared to the members of CHC. Surely we don’t expect outsiders to support our vision more than our own members?
Derek, Peng is busy taking care of XPL and CHCSA matters. Please get the figures from him and then quickly meet the zone supervisors to discuss the above. Then and get back to me ASAP on the figures and the plan to wisely execute the plan.”
In another email to Meng How and Derek Dunn, Kong writes:
“Anything less than 13k (basically 13,000 CDs) shows that our members don’t get it! But I guess that is the rock bottom line … See if we could do 20k or more.”
Again, 20,000 CDs would mean platinum status for Sun’s album.
However, Chew did not know of this scheme. Although he was leading a group of 150 people at that time, he was not given a target. He said, “What I knew was that we were to encourage our individual members to support Sun, and that’s it. No coordination, no fixed targets. In other words, no rigging of the markets. If people feel that they love Sun and they want to buy a CD or two, of course, that’s okay. That’s personal support.”
From Kong to Meng How and Derek Dunn again:
“Dear All,
Please discuss how we could wise ensure the sales without attracting detractors.
Also there are only 3k units out in the market. How are we going to raise that amount (see above: target 20,000)? I want them bought through the stores and not delivered straight to our members through the warehouse or via Attributes!”
Your Honour, I believe in supporting Sun. I believe in having members cough up their own money to buy CDs. I will do it personally. But I do not believe in falsifying success, because if success is falsified, the faith of the members are being robbed, number one. Number two, this was supposed to be an investment. There are people involved in this whole album investment and they bet their lives on that. They put their lives on the chopping board, thinking that Sun is a success. And if they think that Sun is a real success, then, of course, the album is an investment. But if they had known that Sun’s success was not real, then would they have gone in the same way and supported the album investment the same way? Probably not.
2007 – Xtron buys “Gain” CDs
Chew referred to an email in May 2007, just before the bonds were issued.
“So in this email, at the bottom, right at the last line “Increase in Expenses” for Xtron, there’s a line that says “Purchase of Gain CDs, $80,000″. Again, that’s plans by Xtron to use its own cash to buy up Sun’s CDs.”
2009 – Buying English singles with iTunes cards
Meng How writes to Serina Wee on 14 September 2009:
“Can you set aside 30K for this project for Sun’s new release? Ps knows about this.”
Chew said, “This was money set aside for certain selected individuals that were in the know about this, to use the money to buy iTunes cards and then use the iTunes cards to go and buy up the singles, the English singles, and Pastor Kong knows about it.”
Then on 30 October 2009, Serina Wee in an email to Meng How details the spending on iTunes cards of $21,088.58. The people involved in this self-purchase of Sun’s single are Meng How, Derek Dunn, Sun herself and Mark Kwan, her assistant.
Chew also presented evidence of the sales charts being rigged, referring to an email from Mark Kwan to Kong Hee attaching a weekly sales report of Sun’s US single, “Fancy Free”, and seeking instructions from Kong on whether they should use iTunes cards to buy more singles.
No genuine fan base
Mark Kwan writes to Tan Ye Peng on 10 February 2008:
“Ps, sincerely, I feel a little bothered about the genuine fan base….
I think if I am her (Sun) I would feel very heartbroken by the results after 7 years.
I know that 1k is an estimation, but I think that it’s pretty accurate. 1 to 2k if there is no church organising involved.
But ps I feel bothered that after 7 years in the asian music biz, we only gathered this little genuine support.
…
When we hold concerts, it is almost an unspoken fact that it is a church related event. The way it was organised around the Emerge and the way the crowd is ushered etc. If I were a non Christian, I would feel intimidated. And we are always so concerned about filling the hall that we never leave space for any possible outsiders that may be interested in coming.
.. if this is a call from God, then at least we should leave some space for God to prove his faithfulness and power instead of taking everything into our own hands and then ending up with this level of genuine support. Sigh…”
Chew: “And, your Honour, this is February 2008. 13 million of bonds have been drawn down from Xtron — through Xtron. He’s now talking to Jean Wyclef. He gets me to do a new BSA for Xtron for 11 million, because he says the project is getting bigger, it’s going to be much grander, it’s going to be more successful. But the man that’s in the know, Mark Kwan himself, doesn’t think that Sun has made it. There is a dislodge between what Kong Hee is saying and what one of Sun’s closest workers is saying.”
I didn’t have the knowledge at the time, in 2007 to 2010, as to what was really happening, because I trusted Kong Hee, I trusted Sun, I trusted Tan Ye Peng. But when I look at the evidence in the course of these proceedings, it is quite clear to me: Sun was not a success at all. She had no fan base outside of the church, or very little. Her Mandarin albums were mostly propped up by their own monies, either Xtron or church money. The US singles were self-purchased through iTune cards. And Kong Hee was in the know that all this was happening in the years 2007, 2008, 2009, 2006, 2005. And, surely, in his own heart, in his own conscience, he knows Sun is not ready. If she launches a US album, it will be a flop.
First Day Cover
Chew called up a new exhibit, an email written by his wife to the Children’s Charity and Trust Foundation (CCTF) to ask if they had ever awarded a First Day Cover to Sun. Their reply was no.
“Greetings!
Your letter of 23 August 2014 enquiring ‘Whether our Fund had given the award to Ms Ho Yeow Sun for her to print her personal photograph on the first day covers and souvenir stamps’, our reply is as follows.
This is to certify that since the establishment of our Fund until now, we have not given authority to any unit or individual to print photographs or other contents that has got nothing to do with our Fund on the first day cover and souvenir stamps issued by our Fund.”
Kong Hee reluctant to invest in Sun’s music career
Finally, Chew brought up an email from Kong Hee to Tan Ye Peng on 30 August 2006 discussing how Xtron would need advanced 12 months of rental from City Harvest Church, but if it could not be paid on time, Kong said, “I should have enough funds on my personal account to make the loan to XPL on Dec-08.”
12 months’ rental is approximately $2.5 million.
Chew said, “Pastor Kong is saying that he has $2.5 million of his own personal account, that, if the church doesn’t have it, then he will put in his own money. When I read this and I started to think if Pastor Kong has so much money of his own, and surely he should have faith in his own wife and this vision that came from God, why doesn’t he put his own money into the Crossover? Why does he need to risk the church money?”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)