CHC co-founder Sun Ho thought album would be a hit in US (Today: 20 May 2015)

SINGAPORE — Taking the witness stand for the first time today (May 19) in the high-profile trial involving City Harvest Church (CHC) leaders, church co-founder and pop singer Ho Yeow Sun told the court that she had always been under the impression that her music would be a hit in the United States given that A-list producers were involved in producing her first US album.

And while she testified that she was not involved in the budgeting for the album, she recalled that the projected marketing expenses were to be “in line with those of (Colombian singer) Shakira’s”.

The album was never launched, but Ms Ho maintained that it was only held back. Even when the Commercial Affairs Department began its investigations into the alleged misdeeds of the church’s leaders in 2010, her team still held regular discussions on photoshoots for the album, Ms Ho said in response to Senior Counsel Edwin Tong, who represents CHC founder Kong Hee.

The involvement of CHC funds in promoting Ms Ho’s music career — in particular, the evangelical foray into the US market under what is dubbed the Crossover Project — has come under the spotlight in involving six of the church’s leaders, including Kong, who is also Ms Ho’s husband. The six individuals are accused of misappropriating millions from the church’s coffers for this purpose.

Ms Ho said she had been working towards “sales of multimillions” for the album. “I always remember (music producer and hip-hop artist) Wyclef Jean mentioning multimillions, so that is the number in my heart that I was working towards,” she said.

CHC’s former investment manager Chew Eng Han, who earlier yesterday had called Ms Ho as a witness, asked her about “wild fluctuations” in the sales figures of her previous albums, as reported by various sources. Earlier in the trial, Chew said he had realised only in recent years that the track record of Ms Ho’s singing career had been “falsified” and that Kong had chosen not to disclose the poor progress of the Crossover Project.

Referring to email correspondence between Ms Ho and producers in the US, Chew, who is also one of the accused, yesterday questioned how she had concluded that her first five Mandarin albums could have sold four million copies when evidence, including financial statements of her managing company Xtron Productions, showed otherwise.

“There was no way you would have believed the albums sold four million copies,” contended Chew, who is conducting his own defence.

Deputy Chief Prosecutor Tan Kiat Pheng argued that Ms Ho was not in a position to give evidence on the financial success of the albums, given that she had merely had “impressions” that they did well, based on concert crowds, but was unaware of how that translated into profits.

Today, Chew also called on a second witness, former church member Sun Yuen Ping. She testified that in 2007, she and her husband invested S$350,000 in Xtron and the Crossover Project, under Chew’s introduction. They never got the 4 per cent returns they were promised, she said.

Their doubts were, however, dismissed by church leaders. “One of the pastors said we should not be suspicious of our leaders. We should trust (them). We should not have any queries,” she added.

The trial continues tomorrow (May 20).